The Letter
by Florence D. P. Snape
Summary: Sara Bridger was having a rewarding day: she had all the spare parts the Resistance needed and she captured Kylo Ren, the leader of the evil Knights of Ren; so how come stupid Ben Solo was in her ship wearing Ren's clothes? #Not Reylo. #Bendemption. Enemies to Lovers. Happy Ending. Smutty.
1. The Surprise

**Corellia**

Sara Bridger, 21, – blue eyes and hair just like her father – was escavenging in Corellia for spare parts for the Resistance ships in the long-abandoned Empire factories; she had managed to collect a lot of important and expensive parts before her presence had been noticed there. But once it had, the First Order sent a great number of stormtroopers to the planet to find her. They'd even sent their masked dark-Force user, Kylo Ren, who simply walked around one of the factories, as if taking a stroll in the park, and seemed to be ready to board his Upsilon ship already, leaving Corellia without fighting her. Again. Sara was getting tired of that; every battle she went ready to engage him but he always left before that could happen._ Not today. _She thought. Running towards his ship to intercept him before he could reach its door.

"Looking for someone?" She asked, lightsaber twirling in her hand as she faced him.

"Bridger." he said her name like a curse, stopping with his hands clenched on his sides, seeming to be considering whether to attack her or not; so she attacked him first and he quickly ignited his red crossguard lightsaber to protect himself from her blows. Their weapons clashed furiously, but never reaching the target, for they were equally skilled and powerful. However Sara was determined to defeat him, he was the First Order's Second-in-Command – a position he shared with the ginger Armitage Hux. If she killed Ren – or better yet: imprisoned him – it would be an exceptional victory for the Resistance. But he was good, wielding his lightsaber dexterously, making it really hard for her to land a blow on him.

They fought for long minutes, and Sara began to notice he actually avoided fatally injuring her, worrying more about defending himself from her blows than about incapacitating her.

She frowned at him as they circled each other. "What's the matter with you?" she asked. "I can tell you're holding back. I've seen you fight before, you're better than this."

"If you're not smart or fast enough to penetrate my defenses, don't blame me for your shortcomings." He replied, his voice muffled and mechanized by the helmet.

Those words fed her anger, Sara hated being teased and undermined, so she attacked him with determination, using the Force to send a gush of wind to hit his legs, taking him by surprise, and bringing him down onto his knees. She ran to him, before he had the chance to stand up, and hit his head with the hilt of her lightsaber, so hard he fell onto the ground unconscious despite the protection of the helmet.

She got his lightsaber from the ground and lifted him by means of the Force, making him float in front of her towards her ship. A group of stormtroopers tried to intercept her but she was feeling too victorious to give them a second of her time – she had Kylo Ren in her hands, she didn't care about killing some troopers. So with a move of her hand, she threw them all up into the air, making them hit the ground ten meters away, hard. She reached her ship – a YT-2400 light freighter known as the Mirrorbright – closed the door, and cuffed the still unconscious man to a pipe in the corridor between the door and the cockpit. Next she went to the cockpit, setting course to Lothal. Once she had jumped into hyperspace, she relaxed on her seat, enjoying the silence of her ship, feeling really proud of her day's achievements: she had collected the parts they needed and imprisoned the mighty Kylo Ren! That was two victories! Three, if you took into account she hadn't gotten hurt in the process. She closed her eyes, getting ready to take a nap in the pilot's seat – feeling too comfortable to get up and walk to her room; but a few minutes into the hyperspace jump she heard her name being called: "Bridger!"

"What the hell?" she opened her eyes, shocked to hear that voice calling her name, for she knew the owner of that voice.

She walked out of the cockpit and in the direction of the sound: "Hey, Bridger. It's me! Come on!" she heard again, plus the rattling of the metal cuffs.

When she turned the corner and saw her prisoner, she stopped dead in her tracks, not believing her eyes; Kylo had taken his helmet off.

"I can explain." He began.

"How is this possible?" she was baffled.

"I thought you knew! Aren't you with the Resistance?" he sounded just as puzzled.

"Yes, I am."

"So how don't you know?"

"Know _what_?" she nearly shouted.

"My mother must've told you about me! About the plan!"

Sara stared at her ex-classmate, not understanding what was happening. She had captured Kylo Ren, the leader of the evil Knights of Ren, how come stupid Ben Solo was in her ship wearing Ren's clothes?

"I'm not who you think I am." He continued, softening his tone a little.

She shook her head, completely lost; the shock of seeing his face two years after he had burned down the Skywalker Temple and gone to work to the Dark Side freezing her in place.

"You are Kylo Ren?" She asked, trying to put things together.

"Yes. And how the fuck you don't know? Of all the people in the Resistance, _Precious_, I'd have thought my mother would've told you!" the nickname he had called her while they were in the Temple left his lips with ease and he winced, regretting saying it the moment he'd uttered it.

Sara's face immediately changed from shock to hatred. She had never been friends with him – too preppy for her liking, always well dressed, pristine white Jedi robes (that contrasted beautifully with his black hair – she immediately scolded herself from thinking that), the nephew of the Jedi Master, the Prince, the war heroes' son, with his stupid calligraphy hobby, always teasing her for not being feminine, for breaking things. But she'd always defeated him at the Temple, and for that he'd teased her even further. She hated his guts. And now she had him cuffed in her ship.

"I know perfectly well who you are, Solo." She replied before tapping on her wrist holocomm, calling Leia.

"Hi, Spector seven. Are you on your way?" Leia asked.

"Yes, General. I've got the parts and a prisoner that says you should've explained a few things to me." She reached out her arm, turning the holocomm so that Leia could face the man on the floor.

"Ben." Leia exhaled. "Why did you engage her?"

"I didn't!" he defended himself. "She attacked me on my way to the Upsilon! Why didn't you tell me she was in the Resistance now? And why didn't you explain anything to her?"

Leia sighed and turned to Sara. "Uncuff him, Sara."

"What? No!" she exclaimed in defiance.

"Look, there's a reason Ben is doing this." Continued Leia. "Who saw you taking him?"

"Everyone."

"Ok." Leia let out a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, obviously annoyed with that situation. She lowered her hand and looked at them both, "Bring him to Lothal, Sara, and I'll meet you in the parking lot – do not leave the Mirrorbright before we talk, Ben!" she ordered. "And explain everything to her." And she hung up.

Sara lowered her arm and stared at the man on sitting on the floor, trying to remember her despise for him, forcing herself to forget other things. She brought forward her strongest disgusted tone: "I have no idea what's going on here, Solo, so you'd better start explaining."

"Uncuff me first." He rattled the cuffs.

"Not happening." She sat in front of him on the floor. "I don't think I can trust you. Besides I kinda like seeing you like that." She smirked. "Explain."

Ben sighed frustrated. "Look, Bridger, I'll keep it short for you: I left the Temple to join Snoke because Palpatine isn't as dead as we thought."

She frowned deeply. "What? No. You're pulling my leg. That can't be true."

"But it is." he sighed. "And infiltrating the First Order was a way to find out more about how, why and when he'll attack."

Sara looked at him, sensing nothing but truth coming from him, a fearful look slowly forming on her face. "Shit. That's bad." She thought a little longer. "Ok, then." She whispered after a while and got up.

"Release me, Bridger, come on!" he asked again.

"Not yet. I'm still enjoying the view." She smirked. "Having your worshipfulness cuffed to my ship's air ducts is giving me such joy." she mocked him.

"Tell me how a Loth-rat like you ended up in the Resistance?" he decided two could play their old insult game. "They must be really desperate, anyone can join now, it seems."

"Right." She smiled, completely unaffected by his insults. "Call me a rat all you want, Solo. But we both know what I found in your burned cabin in Yavin."

Her words had him hesitating. "Care to share with the class?"

"Half of a letter. In your pretty handwriting. To me. Does it ring a bell?"

He gulped. And she got closer, enjoying his sudden nervousness, kneeled beside him and ran a hand through his hair (trying not to think of how soft it was). She yanked on it, making him look up at her, and nearly touched her nose to his: "Try to undermine me all you want with your words, for I know now that's the way you hide what you truly feel for me." She let go of his hair and walked away from him without another word.

* * *

Ben touched his forehead to the metal wall. _Fuck. She found it_. Two years ago he wrote her a letter in Yavin in the hours before he had to put his plan into action, and in the letter he admitted he'd only teased her because he loved her – something that he knew didn't make any sense, for if he had been nice to her instead it'd have been much easier to get close to her. But he had teased and annoyed her since her first day in Yavin 4, for that was the only way his twelve-year-old self knew how to make her notice him. If only he knew then that his attitude would do nothing but make her hate his guts. When he was sixteen he admitted (to himself) that he was in love with her – she had bewitched him the first moment his eyes met her blue ones – but by then she already despised him. Now they were adults and her feelings for him were clearly the same: despise, anger, hate; and his feelings for her had never changed – she was the reason he'd always gone to every single battle against the Resistance: it was the only place where he could see her; and he knew he was just feeding dreams he'd never have the chance to fulfil, but considering what was to come, dreams were all he could have. He sighed heavily against the metal wall and tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in, it had been a while since he had slept without fearing for his life and he knew Sara wasn't going to kill him – at least not before they reached Lothal anyway.

* * *

Sara sat in the cockpit looking at one of the screens, looking at Ben. _He must be really tired_. She thought, for he was fast asleep in what had to be an uncomfortable position. She sighed, recognizing that she was being childish for leaving him cuffed even though she now knew he wasn't a threat to her, but she still remembered all his teasing at the Temple, and leaving him cuffed was her way of having a little payback – there hadn't been a day where he hadn't found a way to annoy, insult or pick a fight with her in Yavin. When she had found the half-burned letter in his cabin, she was surprised to read such heartfelt words in his elegant handwriting.

"_I hurt you loth-cat, I know, but forgive my young self – insulting you was the only way that boy knew how to have your deep sea-blue eyes looking at him and, at such tender age, your frown was better than your indifference." _Sara knew the letter by heart already, it was so beautiful. If anyone told her that it had been Ben Solo who'd written it, she'd have never believed them, but she'd been the one to find it and she recognized his handwriting. And, although he never mentioned her name in it, she knew it was for her, for he apologized a lot in the page-long letter for all the things he had done (to her) and called her 'loth-cat' – Sara was the only padawan from Lothal in the Skywalker Temple.

So he hurt her because he wanted her looking at him and twelve-year olds don't know how to be nice to girls they like. Now, at 21, she could understand that. But after 8 years of unstoppable teasing, she had learned to hate him – but the letter's author? The opposite had happened: she'd learned to love him, she dreamed about him and carried in her heart all the beautiful words and feelings he had poured in the letter; in her mind, her ex-classmate Ben Solo was one person, and the letter writer was another. But seeing him in person again had thrown her feelings into a chaotic spiral.

* * *

**Lothal**

Two hours later, Sara landed the Mirrorbright in her usual spot in the parking lot and saw Leia walk towards the ship with a bag in her hands. She opened the door for her to board and Leia walked in, easily finding her son still cuffed and on the floor.

"Good morning, mom." Ben greeted her.

"Morning, son." She kissed his cheek, shaking her head. "She still hates you, I see."

"Yeah. But I actually slept like a baby, so no harm done."

"I'm glad you're here." Leia said softly.

"Me too." He looked down the corridor and saw Sara coming towards them. "Here she comes." he whispered with a smile.

"Hi, General." Said Sara, before looking down at Ben, "I hope your stay in my ship was miserable, your highnessness."

"It was very satisfying, _Precious_, thanks for caring." he replied, still smiling.

Leia had to hide a laugh, but Sara noticed it and looked at her very displeased, throwing a keychain with two keys at her. "You can let him go, if you want." And she walked out of her ship.

Leia looked down at her son and laughed. "Was your relationship always like that?" she uncuffed him.

"Yep." he stood up, stretching and hugging her. "Uncle Luke learned very early on to not pair us for dueling lessons – things used to get bloody pretty quickly, mainly my face."

She laughed again. "You know... maybe you still have a chance with her after all. This is exactly what my relationship with your dad was in the beginning."

"Really?" Ben seemed interested.

Leia nodded and gave him the bag she was carrying, "There's a change of clothes in there. Rooms are that way." she pointed. "Get dressed and leave your costume in there."

"_Costume_?" he asked, in feign indignation, "This is a very expensive light armor that I had Hux pay for." he smiled. "And let me tell you it's also high fashion."

Leia played along, "Right, your grandma would be proud. Now go change!"

And he walked to the bedrooms, finding Sara's, changing and leaving his black Ren's clothes neatly folded on her bed.

* * *

**Notes:** Another story with these two. Hate/love this time, with a different Sara (last name Bridger – be warned I've seen too much Rebels; if you haven't, you should) Happy ending guaranteed (as usual), and lots of smut. It'll be around 10 chapters total. Hope you enjoy it!


	2. The Conflict

Sara left the Mirrorbright and didn't look back, too angry to even look at Leia again. Of all the things that the General could've hidden from her, the fact that Ben and Ren were the same person had to be the worst. Sara had spoken many times about how angry and frustrated she felt that the guy wouldn't engage her in battle. And all that time: Leia knew!

She walked into the Base's lounge room and found her friends, Poe and Finn, relaxing on the couch. She threw her duffle bag onto the floor and sat heavily beside them. "Hello, lovebirds."

"Hi, Jedi-girl." Greeted Finn. "How was your trip?"

"'_Disaster' _doesn't even begin to describe it." She sighed.

"Why?" asked Finn. "Didn't you find the parts we need?"

"Not that, I did get the parts. But I engaged your ex-boss in battle and won. Brought him in as prisoner."

"That sounds great!" exclaimed Poe, a little confused. "How come you aren't happy about it?"

"Well, it was all great: I had the parts, Ren was my prisoner, and I had set the Mirrorbright on course to Lothal, initiated the hyperspace jump and was ready to take a nap; but then he took his helmet off..."

And before Sara could finish her story, Leia walked into the room with Ben – who had changed his dark Kylo uniform for jeans and a white t-shirt and Sara had to ignore her body's immediate response to that sight; he looked dreamy, such a simple combination of clothing items had never looked better; he was every inch the Prince his royal status claimed he was.

"Shit." she breathed, angry at herself.

"No way!" exclaimed Poe, smiling as he recognized Ben. "What's he doing here?"

"That's Kylo." Said Sara, receiving a look of complete shock from both her friends.

"Are you serious?" exclaimed Poe.

"Wait, you two know him? Who is he?" asked Finn.

"That's Leia Organa's son, my childhood friend, your ex-boss, and Sara's arch-enemy/crush from the Temple."

"The letter guy?" asked Finn, shocked.

"Yep."

"Damn, he hot." Finn exhaled.

Sara looked at them as if they had lost their minds: "First of all, he was not my crush and second: he's Kylo Ren."

Leia and Ben reached them.

"Poe, Finn, Sara." Greeted Leia. "I've already introduced Ben to the others as my son. Not a word about his other name or his time working for the First Order, understood?"

"Yes, General." Replied Poe, standing up to hug his friend. "How're you doing, man?"

"I've been worse." Ben replied, with a smile. "It's good to see you."

"You too." Said Poe, smiling.

"He'll stay here then?" Sara asked, annoyed.

"Yes, sending him back alive would be too dangerous," explained Leia. "Snoke would question the lack of bloodshed – in the sense of why we didn't kill him nor he didn't kill some of us."

Sara nodded in understanding, clearly disliking that news.

"Commander Bridger." Said Leia, in her General-voice now, and Sara stood up in respect. "I'd like for you and Ben to work together."

"What? No!" Sara nearly shouted in anger and surprise.

"You two have a strong connection to the Force, together you can do the work of six people if you learn how to cooperate." briefly explained Leia.

"No. General. I can't. I won't. Give him to my father." Sara shook her head, apprehension filling her up.

"I'm afraid I'm not asking you to do this, Commander Bridger. It's an order." Leia said in a final tone.

And the look of defeat in Sara's face was heartbreaking, but as soon as it appeared it was gone and she looked at Ben with fury, walking right into his personal space, one finger pointing at his face: "One word from you, Solo, one insult. And, by the Force, I'll break your stupid royal nose!" She threatened him.

"He will work under your command." Added Leia, trying hard not to laugh. "Any disrespectful behavior from his part, you can deal with him as you wish."

Sara seemed satisfied with that; she stared up at him, and he held her gaze, not being intimidated by her, but visibly amused.

"Furthermore," continued Leia, paying careful attention to their interaction, as she dropped another piece of information: "Ben will be staying in the room next to yours, so show him the way, please."

Sara stopped looking at Ben and narrowed her eyes at Leia, trying to understand what kind of game she was playing – not only they'd have to work together but they'd be next-door neighbors as well. _What kind of punishment is this?_ She thought to herself. But Leia didn't give her any clue, not even through the Force – something truly remarkable for someone who claimed to be untrained –, she just looked at Sara and Ben in silence.

"All right." Sara finally spoke, letting out a breath. "If there's no other way, follow me, _your worshipfulness_." And she walked to the door.

"After you, _Precious_." He said, smiling and glancing at his mother and at Poe before leaving.

When they were away, Poe whispered: "Those two need to get it out of their systems."

"Yeah. The sexual tension was even getting me hot – and I'm not into straight porn." Added Finn.

Leia laughed. "That's why I'm putting them to work together. Ben's been in love with Sara since he first saw her."

"We know. He wrote her a letter." Said Poe, putting one arm over his boyfriend's shoulders.

"A letter?" asked Leia, surprised.

"Yes. Sara found it at the Temple." explained Finn. "It is a very beautiful love letter."

"So she knows about his feelings?" asked Leia. "That's very interesting."

"Yes. And it gets even more interesting, General, for Sara may hate your son, but she loves the man that wrote that letter to her." Added Poe.

Leia raised her eyebrows and nodded slowly, "Is that so?" she looked at the door again, really happy to have learned that information.

* * *

Sara walked down the corridors trying to ignore the man following her; he looked so good in that outfit, the jeans hugging his strong thighs and that white t-shirt just the right size to be neither too large nor too tight. His dark shoulder-length hair falling on soft waves, making him look so sexy. _No, Sara. Stop! _She thought angrily. _That's Solo, the asshole that annoyed you daily for eight years of your life. _She had to keep reminding herself of that. _But he also wrote me that letter… No no no. Let's not go there! Leave the letter out of this!_

Ben watched Sara walking in front of him, her brown uniform loose enough to not be too sexy, although the utility belt marked her waist, showing off her curves while carrying her lightsaber, kal dagger and blaster. She was obviously angry, but he could also sense her frustration, a hint of confusion and…_ Is that sexual attraction that I sense from you, loth-cat?_ He thought to himself, smiling at that knowledge. _So you really don't hate me as much as you've been making me think? Interesting. _

Being lost in thoughts about the sexual tension he could feel from her, Ben didn't notice Sara had stopped in front of a door and turned around to face him, so he bumped into her heavily, immediately wrapping both arms around her waist to keep her from falling on her back, the action bringing her body flush against his and freezing them both in place. He inhaled and noticed she smelled fruity and a little sweaty, her blue eyes big in her flustered face as she stared up at him; he looked down at her slightly parted lips wishing he could just bite them and search for her tongue with his, making her whimper in pleasure.

Sara felt the hardness of his chest against her soft breasts and looked up into his warm brown eyes, their lips too close for comfort. He smelled of clean laundry and a masculine scent that had her knees weakening. She saw his eyes leave hers to focus on her mouth and she had to ignore the wave of heat she felt flushing through her, awakening a need in her core that brought her back to reality; she pushed him away violently, growling: "Let go of me!"

And he let go of her waist, raising his hands in defeat. "All right! I'm sorry. But you were going to fall."

"Next time, let me fall! I don't want your hands on me." She was furious – at him and at her own body's response to his proximity. She touched her hands to the front of her uniform, keeping them close to her body, fearing they could get a mind of their own and touch him. She pointed to the door they had stopped in front: "So this is your room and that..." she pointed to the door right across the hallway. "...is mine. Unless you're dying, don't ever knock on my door. Understood?"

"Yes, Commander Bridger." He said, stopping himself from smiling too much, she looked nervous, turned on and angry, it was so good to know he could do that to her.

"We'll meet tomorrow in the training room, at 7 a.m.; it's beside the lounge room we were just in now. I'm sure you can find it."

He nodded.

She looked at him for a few more seconds, trying to hate him more – but his soft smile, the sexy way that simple white t-shirt stretched over his large shoulders and his beautifully styled hair were all too distracting. Without another word, she turned her back on him and walked into her room, leaving him alone in the corridor.

* * *

**Later that night**

"_I'm nothing but an idiot when it comes to you. I wish I had done everything differently, loth-cat, but I didn't know how to act around you, you and your beautiful eyes, unique blue hair. I love it when, at the end of a training day, you let your curls down after showering and put on a dress to walk by the waterfall, generally barefoot. I wish I could walk by your side, holding you close to me, and kiss you by the beautiful pool."_

Sara stopped reading the half-burned page and stared at the window, the night was bright and the nocturnal birds were chirping joyfully. She sat on her bed, the letter in her hands. _I have to stop reading this._ She was feeding some nonexistent relationship feelings; that letter was the tale of a love story that had never happened – and yet Sara held on to it as if she missed that – as if she missed Ben. _And I definitely don't_. But the man that wrote that letter, she wished he had known him; he seemed passionate, confident in his feelings, and humble enough to say he was sorry; he sounded too good to be true. Add to those characteristics the strong body that had held her earlier that day and he was, indeed, perfect.

She fell onto her back on the bed and closed her eyes, the letter resting on her stomach. She dreamed of him, the faceless man that wrote her that letter, of the feeling of his arms around her, his lips kissing her passionately; she craved his passion, dreamed of how it would be to have him on top of her, inside of her, making her body his as she screamed in pleasure. _And now Ben Solo is here._ She though, sighing heavily. _This is so fucked up. I'm so fucked up._

"Sara." She heard someone call her name from the other side of her door. It sounded like her mother, so she waved her hand towards the door, using the Force to unlock it.

"Come in." she replied, sitting up on the bed again.

And Sabine Wren walked into the room, her short, ever-changing hair (purple and teal at the moment) clashing with the simple brown uniform she had on.

"Hey, mom." said Sara, smiling.

Sabine looked at her and smiled sweetly, as she always did when she went there to kiss her good night, as if Sara was an 8-year-old girl and not a 21-year-old Jedi. "Are you all right? I was worried when you didn't show up at dinner." She sat on the bed beside her daughter, glancing at Sara's hands.

"I'm fine." Sara replied unconvincingly.

"Reading that again?" she pointed at the letter.

"Yes." Sara sighed. "Mom? Would you destroy it, if I asked you to?"

"No." Sabine shook her head. "That's part of your story, if you want it destroyed, you'll have to do it yourself."

"I hate him, mom." she whispered, trying hard not to break into ugly tears in front of her mother. "I hate him so much. And now he's here..."

"I wonder how that happened." teased Sabine.

Sara chuckled softly. "Isn't it extremely ironic? He's the last person I want to see and…"

"Is he though?" Sabine interrupted.

"Of course he is, mom!" Sara exclaimed a little too vigorously. "I hate him!"

"Maybe you hate and don't want to see the Ben Solo you met at the Temple – and I fully understand that. But the man who wrote that." Sabine glanced at the half-burned letter. "He's not the last person you want to see."

Sara averted her gaze. "I should burn this." her voice breaking with emotion, for the moment she'd uttered those words she knew she'd never do such a thing.

"Maybe." agreed Sabin. "But it wouldn't make any difference at this point, I bet you know it by heart."

And Sara smiled dejectedly. "Yeah. I do." She looked at her mother. "I'm so pathetic." she said as she carefully put the half-burned letter on her nightstand.

"No. Don't say that, dear." Sabine smiled. "You can't control how you feel; and that letter is so beautiful, it's understandable that you fell for such sentiments." she paused. "After dinner tonight, Leia told your dad and I that she's asked you to work with Ben." She held her daughter's hand. "How are you feeling about that?"

"Angry." Sara paused briefly, thinking it wouldn't be appropriate to tell her mother she also felt annoyed by her physical attraction to him. "I swear, mom, if he begins to insult me, I'm gonna end him!" she furiously added.

"I know." Sabine tried not to laugh. "Leia mentioned that too, and she was a little concerned about her son's life." Sabine paused studying her daughter's face, seeing the turmoil inside of Sara reflected in her eyes. "Try not to kill the alderaanian Prince, Sara, please. And remember you're not the teenager from the Temple anymore – and neither is he." She kissed Sara's forehead and got up. "Good night, dear. Be patient tomorrow."

"I'll try, mom. Good night."

And Sabine left the room.

Sara moved to turn off the lights and glanced at the letter once more, shaking her head. _I have to destroy that._ She thought as she lay down to sleep; and her dreams were filled by walks by the waterfall pool in Yavin, the soft wind caressing her hair and making her knee-length dress dance; she looked up at the man whose arm was around her waist – she could feel his warmth and strong presence beside her – and kissed his plump lips; for the first time in two years he wasn't faceless anymore.

* * *

Sara woke up and had her morning routine as usual: she got up at 6, had breakfast in the Base's deserted cafeteria – no one was there before seven – and walked into the training room, beginning her usual training routine, stretching first and warming up next by hitting the punching bag for a few minutes.

* * *

Ben started to wake up and the first thing he noticed was that he was lying on a very comfortable bed. The mattress under him seemed to hug his body and the duvet on top of him was so soft; he hadn't felt that comfortable in a long time._ Since I've left home_. He thought, opening his eyes and taking a while to recognize where he was._ Lothal. Sara brought me here._ He smiled staring at the window – enjoying the soft sunlight that entered the room. _Sara Bridger_. He crossed his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling. He loved her, her strong mind, her temper – as unpredictable as it was –, he admired her skills and strength and desired her body. He sighed deeply, remembering the feeling of having her in his arms the previous day, the parted lips he wished he had kissed. He chuckled. _She'd have broken my nose if I had dared_. He thought. _But it would've been so worth it._

He imagined himself pulling her closer and kissing her pink lips, in his imagination she didn't hit him but wrapped her arms around his neck, letting him control and deepen the kiss. She'd moan against his lips and he'd push her against the wall, they'd take off their clothes and fuck right there in the hallway, not caring who could see them.

He removed his hands from behind his head and lowered his pajama bottoms, gripping his hard cock and pleasuring himself while letting his imagination go wild, picturing her arching and moaning his name at every deep thrust of his dick into her tight pussy; her breasts right on his face, at the perfect height for him to suck and bite on them. He groaned as he speeded up the pace of his hand and came all over his own stomach, panting, wishing he could just cross the corridor and fulfil his fantasy on her bed.

He took a quick shower, got dressed and went to the cafeteria, grabbing something to eat, before going to the training room as soon as he had finished eating.

He reached the door of the training room and stopped to admire the woman already inside: Sara wore a black tank top and gray sweatpants, her blue hair up in a high ponytail, the skin of her shoulders, arms, face and belly glistened with sweat – it looked like she'd been there for at least an hour already. She hit the punching bag furiously, jumping around it to hit it at different angles. When her eyes fell on him she suddenly stopped as if she had seen a ghost.

"You… I completely forgot you were here." she said, raising her hand to stop the punching bag from hitting her. _I thought I had dreamt it._ She thought as they just stared at each other for a few seconds. Sara tried to rein in all the feelings inside of her; who was in front of her? The man from the letter or the brat from the Temple?_ Or both?_ She didn't know what to do; she wanted to hate him, but at the sight of his lips she felt the need to kiss him, ask him about the letter – if he remembered the rest, the half that the fire had burned; she wondered if he'd be as passionate as he'd sounded in the letter, and thought about how would her feel if he ever called her by the sweet nickname he used in the letter.

Ben just looked at her, the sexy way she panted, blue eyes focused on him with pain, anger, confusion and… need; her beautiful face frozen in a slight frown, a few blue strands sticking to her cheeks. She looked like she wanted to be kissed, he could almost feel her contrasting feelings from across the room. And if he didn't fear for his life (or his body parts) he'd have approached her and taken her lips in a passionate kiss.

It didn't look like she was about to say anything soon, so he began: "How do you want to do this, Commander?"

Sara seemed startled by his voice and the respectful tone, but she quickly regained composure, clearing her throat and saying: "Tell me about your training with Snoke."

"Basically the same things we used to do at the Temple, but with more freedom to feel hate." He shrugged.

She nodded and turned around, giving him a chance to admire her from behind. The sweatpants weren't tight but he could see her body shape, and the sexy way the curve of her waist met her hips. But she quickly faced him again, with two wooden swords in her hands. "Let's see if you still can't beat me, Solo." She threw one at him, clueless that he had been ogling her.

Ben grabbed the sword and quickly had to protect himself from her attack. Sara swung her sword in an unexpected downwards-upwards arch, missing his face for an inch and their swords clashed furiously. He soon learned she wasn't playing around, she was going to hurt him if he wasn't careful. So he defended himself from her attacks, not giving her any openings, but as fast as he was, he wasn't successful, and she had him on the floor in less than two minutes.

"It seems not even the dark side can help you defeat me." Sara said, smiling smugly.

"You were always better than me. I've always admired your fighting skills." He said in good nature, as he got up from the floor.

Sara pointed her sword at him, angrily saying: "Shut up."

"What? You already know that I admired you." he was a little confused by her anger.

Sara's answer was to attack him, but he was able to hold his ground this time, protecting himself from her furious blows. He managed to disarm her by their fourth clash, the wooden sword flying from her hand to land across the room, but she didn't stop, using her fists she landed a punch on his mouth and another on his stomach.

Ben fell onto his knees, tasting blood in his mouth, feeling his bottom lip immediately swell. He stood up and looked at her, "You said you found the letter. Then why are you so angry with me?"

Sara used the Force to call her wooden sword to her hand and attacked him in response, furiously hitting his sword until it broke in two and she kicked him in the chest, making him hit the floor again, on his back this time.

Then she kneeled on top of him, one knee pressing on his sternum, hurting him further. "I'm angry because I found it. I hate you for all your teasing in Yavin, but even more for writing that letter." She replied before getting up and turning her back on him. "Go to the shooting range, tell the droid there I want a full report on your skills."

Ben stood up, frowning at her. "Right away, Commander Bridger." He replied, before leaving.

When Sara found herself alone in the room again she fell onto her knees, the emotional weight of that situation too heavy for her to bear it standing; Ben Solo was the writer of the letter, and said writer had her heart, but she hated her ex-classmate – at the same time she couldn't avoid being physically attracted to him. She lifted her hands to her face, the tears too many for her eyelids to contain.


	3. The Knowledge

**Late-morning**

Ben was leaving the shooting range when he saw his mother talking to a vaguely familiar woman. The two women stopped talking and walked towards him the moment they spotted him.

"Good morning, son." Greeted Leia, kissing his cheek and smiling at him. "I know our plan is compromised now because Sara kidnapped you, but I must say I'm relieved to have you here with us."

"I'm glad to be here too, mom."

"Let me introduce you to Sabine Wren."

"Sara's mother." He smiled, realizing why she looked familiar. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

"Call me Sabine, dear. And how was your early training session with my daughter?"

"Fine." He asked.

"Really?" asked Leia. "And you got that split lip by tripping and falling on your mouth?"

"Well, it went as fine as it could go. I'm still alive, so it wasn't as bad as it could be."

Sabine chuckled. "Ain't that the truth?"

Ben looked at her and commented: "Sara has your smile."

The two women exchanged a knowing look and Sabine walked closer to him, touching his arm; looking into his eyes, she spoke in a low voice. "My daughter is deeply confused, Ben. She can't forget who you were; and the words you said to her at the Temple left a deep scar. Do you understand why?"

Ben shook his head.

"Because Sara admired you, she had heard a lot about your parents and about you before she went to Yavin. When she got to the Temple – already with many abilities –, and saw you, just as talented as her, she wanted to be admired back. Plus, you're both kids of Rebel fighters, she had never met anyone she could relate to like that." Sabine paused and sighed. "But instead…"

"I was an idiot to her." He completed.

"Yes." Sabine smiled. "Whenever she came home, there wasn't a day she didn't mention your name, or better saying: cursed it. She'd never needed anyone's approval but she really wanted yours."

"She had more than my approval, she had my devotion." He heard himself admitting.

"She knows that now, Ben, but that's not what she remembers. After she found your letter, she changed." Continued Sabine.

"She showed it to you?" he felt a little embarrassed thinking Sabine had read the words he'd written to her daughter.

"Showed me? No, dear. Sara doesn't let anyone near that. But she has recited it to me, parts of it. It's a very beautiful letter, Ben."

"If she's kept it, and likes it, I don't understand why she's still so angry with me." He said.

Sabine smiled softly at him. "Sara mourns what that half-burned page represents."

He frowned, remembering Sara saying earlier she hated him for writing that. "Ok, I think I'm beginning to understand."

Leia added: "Poe said to me that she hates you, son, but she loves the author of that letter."

"And that's why she's confused, Ben. As a kid, Sara wanted your friendship; as an older teenager, she wanted your love; now, as a young woman... I think she fears having her feelings rejected again." Sabine paused and chuckled, "Sara is so upset that she brought you here. But question is: who did she bring here? The Ben from the Temple or from the letter?"

He nodded slowly, fully grasping what she meant.

"It won't be easy to get my daughter to fully forgive you, though." Added Sabine. "She's stubborn."

"I've always known that. With all due respect, ma'am," he looked at Sabine, "But Mandalorians' reputations precedes them: Sara is strong, stubborn, and when she's angry she's insanely dangerous."

Sabine laughed. "I know my daughter, Ben. And what I'm here telling you is that, if you really want to pursue her, you do have a chance – but she's not going to change. Sara is headstrong and won't tolerate being protected and told what to do."

"I don't want her to change." he shook his head.

"Good. So you can count on both of us," Sabine glanced at Leia who nodded. "We'll be very pleased to see you two together."

"Although, my friend, I must say I worry about what our grandkids will be like." Added Leia, making her friend laugh.

"True."

Leia looked at Ben, "Tomorrow I'll talk to you and Sara about a mission I'm going to send you two on. Nothing too far or dangerous; it's just a supply mission. But I'm sending you two to give you a chance to talk to her."

"Thanks, mom." Ben was glad for the help. "Although a part of me fears not returning alive from that mission."

"That would be a possibility, if you hadn't written her that letter." Said Sabine. "Sara cherishes those words, Ben. Be smart about it and my daughter will give her heart to you."

* * *

Sara was talking animatedly to Poe when Ben walked through the parking lot on his way from the shooting range. She glanced at him but turned her attention back to Poe quickly, laughing at what her friend was saying.

* * *

Ben sensed Sara was near when he was crossing the parking lot, and he easily found her by Poe's black x-wing; he heard her laugh out loud and smiled – he loved to see her laughing, her blue eyes sparkled and she threw her head back, in joy –, the fierce warrior giving a little space to the beautiful woman she also was and making him want to just run to her and kiss her.

* * *

Sara felt his eyes on her and turned to look at him again, the happiness in her eyes turning to annoyance.

Poe looked in the direction she was looking.

"That's a nice male specimen, isn't it?" commented Poe. "So freaking sexy. Were he interested, I'd be all over that body."

Sara looked at him, frowning, telling herself that what she was feeling wasn't jealousy, "First of all: he's an idiot. Second: what about Finn?"

"He'd probably join in. That's enough man for two!"

Sara laughed at his crude language.

"Plus, he's not that big of an idiot." added Poe.

"Oh, please!" she sneered.

"You're not the same girl from the Temple, Sara, you're not even the same person you were when I first met you. You've changed, so it's safe to say that so has Ben."

"Whatever." was Sara's only reply before she went to the rear of the x-wing to check on something.

Poe took advantage of the fact she wasn't looking and signaled for Ben to come closer.

* * *

Ben saw Poe silently calling him and decided to go there. As he was getting closer, Poe pointed to the rear of the x-wing, mouthing: "Back there."

And Ben circled the x-wing, finding Sara on the tip of her toes, trying to put something into the top of the ship's servo actuator. He stopped two feet behind her.

"Help me reach up there, please, Poe." She asked, without looking at him, too focused on her task to sense he wasn't who she thought he was.

Ben didn't correct her, he simply got closer and held her waist, lifting her up. Sara installed the part she had to install and let out a relieved breath. "Thanks, you can put me down now." And then she looked down at him and her face changed from friendly to furious. "You? Put me down now!"

Ben did as she'd asked and when her feet touched the ground she turned around and punched him in the chest.

"What was that for?" he asked, touching the right side of his chest.

"I've already told you not to touch me!" she was really angry.

"You asked for my help!" he justified.

"I thought you were Poe!" she shouted. "What are you doing here anyway? Didn't I tell you to go to the shooting range?" she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I've already been there. The droid said my results will be send to your datapad later today."

"Good. Hope you're better with a blaster than with a lightsaber."

He just looked at her with a silly smile, remembering all that Sabine and his mother had just told him.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" she asked angrily.

"No. I'm just thinking of something."

"Thinking? I highly doubt you can do that!" she disdained, her arms on her waist now.

Ben narrowed his eyes a little and smirked, desire winning over his self-preservation and common sense and he quickly closed the distance between them, wrapped an arm around her waist and fisted his hand in her ponytail, taking her lips in a passionate kiss; Sara's surprised gasp gave him the access he wanted and his tongue met hers. For about ten seconds, she melted against him, her hands on his shoulders as he dominated her mouth. But his joy was short lived because after those seconds, he felt an electric shock beginning on his shoulders and going through his body – it took him a moment to realize it was her doing. He fell on the ground and Sara lowered her hands.

"How can you do that?" He gasped, surprised, still twitching a little.

"None of your business, nerf-herder! That'll teach you to keep your hands away from me!" and she stormed away from him, crossing the parking lot without looking back.

Ben laid his head back on the ground and laughed.

"You must have a death wish, man." Said Poe, shaking his head and approaching him.

"I wanted to have kissed her last night." He groaned as a small electric shock ran through him. "I bumped into her in the hallway." Ben smiled. "But I thought she'd just break my nose. I had no idea she could use Force Lightning; that's fucking powerful, and dangerous."

"If you'd asked me, I'd have told you. I've seen her use that to bring down three TIE-fighters at once."

Ben tried to get up but couldn't. "Man, I can't feel my legs." He said, still smiling.

"It'll come back in a few minutes. She's already shocked me too."

"Why? What did you do? I doubt you tried to kiss her."

"No, I definitely didn't. A couple of months ago, we had a couple of days off and went partying in Zeltros. Sara was dancing and attracting a lot of eyes, but she declined every man that approached her. I made a joke then about her jillin' off on a piece of paper."

Ben laughed out loud, "You meant my letter?"

"Yep. She had drunk a little – and when she's got some alcohol in her she gets even more dangerous. She shocked me without any warning. I lay down on the floor of a packed night club twitching for almost half an hour."

"You're crazy, man..." Ben still laughed.

"I'm crazy?" Poe asked skeptically. "You've just stolen a kiss from her."

"It may have started stolen, but she kissed me back." Ben laughed softly, still staring at the clear blue sky, a silly smile on his lips.

"You look like a mad tooka cat that ate the wild bulabird." said Poe. "Was it worth it?"

"Totally." Ben sighed, beginning to move his feet. "I'm going to marry her."

"You're truly mad, my friend." Poe shook his head.

* * *

Sara ran into the training room and went straight to the punching bag, hitting it repeatedly until it nearly blew out of its bolts on the ceiling. In her anger, she didn't see anyone else in the room, in her mind there was only her and the punching bag. She could still feel his hand in her hair and his hard body against her, his arms holding her close, his tongue caressing hers. _It was so good._ She thought, her anger increasing.

"Sara." She heard someone call her, but it sounded as if they were far from her. "Sara!" the voice suddenly became clearer and she recognized it was her father's voice.

"Dad." she whispered, stopping punching the bag.

Ezra used the Force to stop the swinging bag and held both her arms, making her focus on him. "Breathe, dear." he said.

Slowly, Sara felt her mind clearing. She looked around the training room and saw fear in the face of everyone there. "Thanks, dad." She whispered, saying louder next: "I'm sorry for my behavior, guys. It's all under control now!" and she walked to the door with her father.

"What happened to make you lose control like that?" Ezra asked, worried.

Sara opened her mouth to speak but she stopped, her heart racing at the memory of Ben's hands holding her so tightly against him and taking her lips so passionately.

"What did Solo do, Sara? I can sense you're thinking about him."

"He… uhm… can we go to your office to talk about this?"

"Sure, dear."

And Sara walked with him to his office.

Once they were in, she closed the door, sat down and spoke: "Solo did do something, but I handled him."

Ezra sat on a chair beside her and looked at her for almost a whole minute, pondering what to do. "If you don't want to tell me what he did, fine. But whatever it was, you lost control over your feelings, and that's something we must discuss."

"I used the lightning on him." She quietly admitted, knowing her father wouldn't like that.

And, just as she had predicted, her words had Ezra stopping and frowning. "What did he do, Sara?"

"I don't… I won't discuss it." she sighed heavily. "It's done and I've made him pay."

Ezra sighed, knowing she wouldn't tell him anything else, no matter how much he tried to persuade her, and compulsion didn't work on his daughter.

"Ok. I'll let it slide this time. But don't use that power for futile reasons, Sara. You know its origins are in feelings too strong to be contained for long and those could take you down a Dark…"

"I know, dad. I know." She interrupted him. They were silent for a few seconds until she spoke again: "Can I ask you about something? Something that Solo told me, about his reasons to burn the Temple and go to work for the First Order."

"He told you about Palpatine." said Ezra, nodding.

"Yes." she said, slowly, looking at him in disbelief. "So you know about it?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, Palpatine's return is true. And, Ben burning the Temple and infiltrating the First Order was all my idea."

Sara frowned, feeling betrayed for not knowing any of that. "_Your_ idea?"

"Yes. Three years ago, I saw Palpatine's return in a vision and went to Leia's apartment in Hosnian to talk to her about it. My original plan was to send you to the First Order – for Ben has always had some conflict in him and I didn't want to take him down a dark path…"

"So why did he go?" she asked already guessing she knew the answer.

"He was in Hosnian with Leia and overheard me talking to her. So he interrupted our conversation offering to go in your place." Ezra paused. "He was really angry with me, actually. He said he couldn't understand how I was so cold-hearted to send my only daughter into Palpatine's hands."

Sara looked at her father, but her eyes were unfocused, it wasn't Ezra that she saw, her mind was filled with the words from the letter and the feeling of Ben's lips against hers.

Ezra continued: "The main reason I accepted Ben's offer was because I fear Palpatine will come for you; like he did for me years ago. He failed to get me, so he may try to take you."

"Take me for what?"

"For your powers." he held both her hands in his. "Ben overheard me saying that, and that's why he volunteered to go in your place – he protected you."

"He… _protected_ me?" she repeated, the turmoil of feelings inside of her becoming stronger.

"Yes; Leia, Sabine and I, we think that he's always loved you." said Ezra.

And those words brought Sara back to reality and made her jump up from her seat, walk away from her father and pace the room, "Oh, no. No no no. What's this? You're trying to make me... forgive him, or something? Are you going to tell me we're different people now? That he's not the same idiot from the Temple? Mom's already doing that; even Poe's done that! But you're my dad! You're supposed to keep me away from all men forever!"

"I can't stop destiny, Sara." he had a small smile on his face.

"What?" she exclaimed, suddenly stopping her venting and pacing. "Don't tell me you've seen something." she lowered her voice, sensing he meant something serious. "The Temple showed you my future?"

"Yes. Do you want to see it too?"

"No!" she replied a little too fast.

Ezra stared at her in silence, his heart aching for his little girl; Sara was a strong warrior, stubborn as hell, but with a heart of gold, and always gave her best on every mission she was sent to. Now she looked broken, with both hands on her face and her emotions all over the place; Ezra could tell she was thinking about Ben.

Sara sat back on her chair, let her head fall on her hands and closed her eyes; all she could think of was Ben's hands, his body against hers, and his tongue in her mouth – if she licked her lips, she knew she'd be able to taste him still. And now her father was saying he wasn't against her getting involved with Ben for he couldn't stop destiny, so did that mean she was destined to be with Ben? She didn't know how that made her feel, but she had to admit she wasn't sad – angry and thrown off balance were more appropriate words – and her treacherous heart pounded excitedly in her chest, her skin yearning for more of Ben's touches. After a silent moment, she whispered: "Yes, I want to see it." and stood up.

Ezra got up from his seat and hugged her. "Remember: destiny is something that can be changed, Sara. A small alteration in one's path can change their whole future. Whatever you see in the Temple, you'll have more questions than answers afterwards; you'll need to search inside of you for the answers, and you'll have to build the path to the future you'll see there – if you so desire."

Sara just nodded and followed him outside.

* * *

After the small electric shocks were over, Ben stood up and helped Poe finish fixing and cleaning the black x-wing.

"So what did you do for fun at the Starkiller Base?" asked Poe.

"Fun? Well, that's not a word many people know when working for the First Order. I used to walk around the forest. It was cold, but I enjoyed the silence."

"That sounds lame, man." chuckled Poe. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How come you're still into her?" he asked point-blank. "And I mean romantically, because sexually it's obvious, I have eyes, so I can see she's gorgeous. But Sara is an acquired taste. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love her, but that temper, man. She never accepts being told what to do – and this is me saying that! I'm the first to break the rules, but Sara doesn't even acknowledge that rules exist."

"Really? At the Temple she followed the rules."

"That's because the Jedi path is one of the things she respects. The rest of us? Not much."

Ben smiled and leaned against the metal stair that took up to the cockpit. "You know, I've questioned myself many times too; I once thought my feelings for her could be just those of a crush. So I tried hooking up with women whenever we landed on a planet with a cantina or something. But nah… Sara was always on my mind. I've never met anyone like her – she's strong, determined, intelligent, beautiful, and so fucking hot."

"She's Jedi and Mandalorian, man." Said Poe as if those two things were deadly diseases. "How many time she's handed you your ass in the past twenty hours?"

"Three times." Ben replied, quickly adding: "But I can see where she's coming from; I treated her like shit for 8 years. I know it won't be easy to have her forgiveness, but I'll find a way. She kissed me back today!" he smiled.

"Yeah, then she used lighting on you and you had to lay down on the ground for twenty minutes to recover."

Ben just shrugged.

Poe looked at him a little longer until he seemed to have found an answer. "It makes sense in a way. To handle that crazy Mando woman, if not Vader's grandson then who?"

That had Ben laughing again. "That sounds so wrong, man."

"Dude, she shocked you because you kissed her! I wonder what will remain of you after you two fuck."

"Not much, probably. But whatever remains will be part of the happiest man alive."

"Gak! Stop! You'll make me puke!" exclaimed Poe, laughing alongside Ben.

* * *

Sara and her father drove up to the Painting of the Mortis Gods and she stopped in front of it, the three people in the painting seemed to always smile at her, the Daughter, the Father and the Son – the Dark side to the Daughter's light. Sara touched her hand to the Daughter's, moving it to the side. The painting was the door to a very powerful part of the Temple they called the Gateway. Ezra and Sabine had told her the story of how they had helped Lothal escape the control of the Empire and saved that part of the Temple from being destroyed.

Sara removed her hand from the painting and the wolves at the Son's feet moved and ran to the right, making a circle, showing her the entrance.

Sara looked at her father, "You coming in?"

Ezra shook his head. "No. I'll guard the entrance."

So she walked into the Gateway alone, taking a moment to admire the beauty of that place: the endless darkness, the stars above, the silver paths that seemed to float in thin air, leading to many dark mirrors of many different sizes; she didn't fully like that she didn't have a choice in the matter of being the next guardian of that place but she knew she'd kill anyone that tried to corrupt that Temple – she loved and respected it too much. Looking down at the bright path, she noticed it guided her towards one of the mirrors, she was torn between wanting to look and wanting to ran away. The desire to see what the Force wanted to show her won, eventually, and she took a deep breath before walking towards it and looking in. An image slowly took form: two young kids ran near a pond in a verdant prairie, Sara could even feel the soft caress of the wind from that vision and smell the jogan blossoms in the breeze. She smiled, recognizing that place, it was right there in Lothal. Then she heard a man calling the kids and the two younglings ran towards the voice, Sara knew who she was going to see a second before he appeared: Ben Solo, in casual comfortable clothes, his long black hair moving in the breeze and he had a sweet smile on; _That's the man from the letter_, she thought as she looked at him. He looked every inch the Jedi Prince she had pictured him being in her mind after she'd read the letter. The kids hugged his legs and he began to run after them, playing tag, and the kids laughed as they ran. So she was looking at his future, and he had kids. For a moment Sara felt her heart clench, sadness filling her, and longing; she frowned, _I thought I'd come here to see my future, not his._ And she wished that was her future too, a life of love with beautiful kids and her Prince by her side.

A few moments after she'd thought that, the kids shouted: "Mommy!" and ran towards a woman with a baby in her arms. And Sara let out a strangled laugh: she was looking at herself, her long blue hair up in a ponytail and she smiled at the man – at Ben – and he kissed her lips so sweetly she felt her heart skip a beat. He held their baby and it was her turn to run after the other two kids, playing tag with them. The image slowly faded away and the mirror became dark. Sara fell onto her knees in front of it, looking down at the dark floor, her mind replaying those images, as if she feared forgetting them, as her heart yearned to have what she had just seen in the mirror. The tears started to fall, while she asked herself how they were going to get to that point. She had to admit she didn't hate Ben as much anymore – she couldn't stop staring at him, she desired him – but her memories of all their arguments at the Temple still hurt her, she had tried her best to make him notice her and compliment her achievements there while he had nothing but hurtful words to say to her.

Sara took a deep breath; she wasn't that insecure teenager anymore and Ben wasn't the mean classmate she remembered him to be. She was a strong and self-sufficient woman and he was an equally strong and independent man – _Sexy as fuck, might I add. _She thought, shaking her head: she had more questions than answers just like her father had said she would. She stood up after a while and looked at the path, it wasn't guiding her anywhere else, so she walked out. It was already night, the moon shone bright in the sky full of stars – time passed different in the Gateway. She looked at the son and touched his hand to close the Gateway, he winked at her. "I like you too." She said, winking back. Then she turned to walk towards her father.

Ezra had spend his time meditating while he waited, so he got up from the ground when Sara approached him. "Hey, there, kid. Didn't you like what you saw?" he asked, noticing her teary eyes.

She chuckled sadly, "Like? Of course I liked that, dad, it was beautiful... Do you know what I saw?"

"The kids running through the prairie by the pond that I gave you? Yes, that's what I've seen."

"But how will that happen, dad? I can't forget all Ben did to me. I punched him in the mouth this morning, and shocked him before lunch! At that rate, he'll be dead before our first year anniversary!"

Ezra chuckled. "No, I don't think so. Your mother told me about the letter he wrote you."

"And there's that…" she sighed. "Before I brought him here, I used to imagine the man that wrote me the letter, he was one person and the Ben Solo from Yavin was another. Only now that he's around, I'm struggling to accept there's not two of them, that the boy I learned to hate and the man I learned to love are the same person."

"It's understandable. But have you ever realized that every time you talk about the Temple you mention Ben's name?"

"Of course! He was always around, annoying me, picking fights with me!"

"He got what he wanted, then: your attention. It seems sometimes he is all you remember from the Temple, Sara, or that he was your only classmate."

She didn't reply. Her father was right: she always mentioned Ben's name when she spoke about Yavin. They walked silently to the landspeeder and Ezra drove them back to the base, it was really dark outside. In the distance Sara could sense the presence of the loth-wolves, guiding and protecting her father and her as always.

* * *

Sabine was waiting for them by the door of the Base, a smile lighting up her face when she saw them.

"Is everything alright, Sara?" she asked her daughter, noticing her teary eyes and conflicted expression.

"Maybe, mom, I don't know."

Sabine looked at her daughter: the cocksure expression Sara always had was not on her face in that moment, her daughter looked thoughtful and worried. "Aren't you happy with what you've seen?" she asked.

"Do you know what I saw?" asked Sara.

"Yes. Your father told me." She pulled Sara to a hug. "Didn't you think it was good?"

"Yes." Sara breathed. "Too good. Beautiful. But…" she loosened the hug. "I'm so torn, mom. I can't…" she let out a breath. "I need to rest and tomorrow I'll think more clearly. What time is it?"

"Nearly 2 a.m." replied Sabine. "And he's still awake, Sara."

"What?" she didn't have to ask who her mother was talking about. She looked around. "Where?"

"He was here a few minutes ago. Asked me if you had returned already and then walked back inside."

"What do I do, mom?" she whispered, feeling insecure wasn't something Sara was used to and that feeling scared her.

"Just like you said: you have to rest. And let time do its thing; talking to Ben wouldn't hurt either, dear. Neither of you are the same you were two years ago."

Sara nodded, kissed her parents good night and walked inside, going to her room and straight to her bathroom – she was fortunate to have an ensuite one, not all rooms had it.

After a few minutes under the hot water, Sara put on her pajamas and let her hair go, her curls a bit messy after spending the whole day in a ponytail. She was pulling back the covers on her bed, the bedside table clock marked nearly 3 a.m., when someone knocked on her door. She frowned and walked closer to it, sensing, before opening, who was on the other side. She took a deep breath and clicked the button that opened the door.

"Solo." She said, glancing at his swollen lip, shivering at the memory of his kiss. "I told you only to knock here if you were dying. Are you dying?"

"No." he not even flinched in the face of her rudeness, he smiled instead. "Are you ok?" he showed his worry in his eyes.

And his question, plus his warm brown eyes, nearly broke her into tears again. She looked at him and remembered the vision from the Temple, wanting it to become true. "No, Solo, I'm far from ok. But if you kindly allow me some hours of sleep, tomorrow I'll be as good as new." She rudely replied, before the need to pull him inside made her do something stupid.

"Right. Good night, then." He said, walking to his door.

"Night." She replied, closing her door before he had closed his.


	4. The Mission

**Next morning**

Sara woke up later than she usually did, it was almost 10 a.m. when she opened her eyes and blinked the sleep away. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling above her bed, remembering the dream she'd had of the vision from the Temple: the kids, so cute, running, laughing and playing; the house, so cozy and welcoming; and Ben, so handsome, gentle and strong; it had been a beautiful dream. She sighed, not knowing what to do – her going to the Temple had just added to her emotional unbalance.

_I must stop thinking of that and begin my day. Training will definitely help me clear my mind._ She thought, throwing the covers away from herself and stretching on the bed before getting up.

She stopped by the window to open it up and looked at the trees; Lothal had so many natural beauties, she felt a deep connection to her home planet; many people thought she was from Mandalore, but that wasn't true; although she had Mandalorian blood from her mother's side, Sara had been born in Lothal and the mythical loth-wolves had visited her only a few hours after she'd drawn her first breath – something that her parents had kept secret from everyone else but her for it was unheard of.

While Sara enjoyed the view of the trees and her mind replayed the dream with the kids running by the pond, a soft breeze entered her room and blew the letter off of her nightstand.

She walked to it and bent down to pick it up, bringing the burnt piece of paper to her chest and thinking of Ben; she loved the man who wrote that letter to her, she just had to control the urge to punch Ben Solo's face and shout insults at him every time her eyes fell on him; her heart and her mind needed time to accept that the letter-Ben she loved and the Temple-Ben she hated were the same person._ Easier said than done. _She thought as she put the letter in her drawer.

She changed her pajamas for training clothes, a blue cropped top and gray sweatpants, socks and sneakers next, and looked at herself in the mirror for a while, analyzing her own features; her messy curly blue hair, blue eyes, her delicate nose and chin – pretty as her mother's – and her rosy, soft-looking lips. She wasn't slender like Sabine though, she had curves, and was of average height. All in all she looked sexy and harmless – a first impression that she'd learned to use to her advantage in battle.

Through the years, Sara had learned to appreciate herself, she liked what she saw in the mirror now – when she was a teenager, she constantly wondered what was wrong with her looks (or more specifically: why a certain Prince didn't look at her in a certain way). But she had long overcome those insecurities. _And now I know Ben was only a pain in my ass because he did look at me in exactly that way._ She shook her head and pulled her hair up, tying it in a bun, before leaving her room.

* * *

Ben walked out of his room before 7 a.m. and looked at the door across the corridor, Sara's door. He could sense she was still inside and asleep. _She'll probably sleep in this morning. _He thought, going to the cafeteria to grab something to eat before beginning his morning training routine.

* * *

When Sara arrived in the training room, she stopped by the door to look at the man already training in there: Ben was wearing black sweatpants and a white tank-top that left very little for the imagination; he was all sweaty, his arms and shoulders glistening, hair sticking to his face as he used a wooden sword to stop four flying targets from shocking him. Of all the issues she had to solve regarding him, physical attraction wasn't one. _Not at all. _She thought.

* * *

Ben sensed Sara's presence and stopped training, turning off the targets and looking at her, she had on a top and sweatpants that showed off the curve of her waist and let her bellybutton out. He let his eyes ran down her body, unashamedly; she already knew he loved and desired her – and he knew she didn't hate him as much as she made everyone think. When his eyes met hers again she had crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him, visibly annoyed.

"Are you done?" she asked.

"Yep." he replied, smiling. "Good morning, Commander Bridger."

"Morning, your royal obnoxiousness." She replied, walking to the punching bag, turning her back to him.

Ben watched her stretch her arms and legs and get ready to start punching the bag. When she bent down to touch her toes, he openly ogled her ass, the sexy way her waist looked so much smaller than her hips gave him dirty thoughts: _So perfect for me to hold on to as I pound into her. _

"Wanna change places with the bag, Solo?" Sara asked as she clenched her fists, feeling the weight of his gaze still on her.

"No." he replied, chuckling.

"So keep your eyes to yourself, royal nuisance." And she began punching the bag.

He shook his head, amused by her irritation, and turned on the flying targets again.

Sara glanced at him over her shoulder and used the Force to manipulate one of the targets to shock him before the time he had set it to begin, so he wasn't ready to protect himself.

"How childish, Bridger." He said, one hand on his arm – where the electric shock had hit him.

"_Childish_?" she exclaimed, turning to look at him, both hands on her waist. "Do you really want to discuss who's the childish one of us?"

"No. Not at all, Commander." He continued his training, pretending to ignore her, but watching her every move as she turned to the punching bag again, jumping around and hitting it with strength. She was focused and precise, the physical energy she applied making her look dangerous – something he already knew she was.

"Who taught you the Force Lighting?" he asked after he had stopped training with the targets and started to put them away.

"I'd never trained to manipulate it, but I happened to use it once, accidentally, so my dad helped me find a way to control it." She stopped punching the bag and turned to face him, looking serious. "It's a dangerous power to have, I… I shouldn't have used it on you. For that I'm sorry. I should've just broken your nose or something."

Ben stared at her for a moment. Then he picked up a towel and dried his face and neck off of sweat; noticing she hadn't taken her eyes off of him, he decided to take advantage of her obvious attraction.

"Was that kiss so bad?" he asked, walking closer to her, running his hand through his hair to get it off of his face.

Sara gulped, looking down at his chest – where the white tank top was almost transparent and not wide enough to cover all of it properly – and back to his face. The need to feel his lips against hers again making her tongue dart out and wet her bottom lip.

Ben saw her tongue run over her lips and took another step towards her, stopping less than a foot away from her.

"Will you shock me again?" he asked, his voice above a whisper.

Sara shook her head. "No. But I may break your nose."

"I can live with a broken nose." He said, a second before pulling her flush against him, his lips covering hers, her tongue darting out again – looking for his this time. He tightened his arm around her waist and put his other hand on the back of her head.

Sara whimpered softly against his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck, desire taking control of her actions. She touched his chest and shoulders, letting him kiss her until they'd faint if they didn't stop to breathe.

Ben let her lips go and they stared at each other, panting a little. Suddenly Sara fisted her hand and punched his jaw – not really sure why, but she knew she had to.

"Fuck." He cursed, wiping blood off of his lips. "Shit! That hurt!"

"I warned you."

"Yes. You did." He wrapped his arms around her again, lip bleeding or not he wasn't going to let the chance to hold her close pass. "And I know I deserve this for the way I treated you at the Temple." He held her tight against his body.

Sara nodded, touching his chest, and admitted: "I am having a hard time forgetting that." She looked at his lips: red, swollen and bloodied, and she wanted to bite and kiss them again.

"I know." He whispered, his lips almost touching hers.

But the sound of people walking in the hallway close to the training room had them jumping apart.

Sara picked up her towel and left the room without looking back, going to her bedroom to clean up and change.

* * *

During lunch in the crowded cafeteria, Poe sat in front of Sara, demanding: "What's going on?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"You're way too quiet and my friend over there has a new wound on his handsome face. Why did you punch him again?"

"He kissed me."

"Did he now? And was it as one-sided as yesterday's kiss?" Poe's voice was heavy with irony.

Sara looked at Poe with annoyance and refused to reply to him.

"I knew it!" he exclaimed. "Why are you hurting him like that if you love him?"

"_Hurting _him? I am hurting him now? What are you? His royal guard or something?" she whisper-shouted. "Do you remember all he did to me at the Temple?"

"Yes! I remember! You were teens then, Sara! For fuck's sake! You grew up and so did he!"

She sighed heavily, her anger suddenly subsiding, "I know." She glanced at Ben and then at Poe. "But seeing him makes me feel so weird, and angry, out of control… emotionally. I know he wrote the letter, but I can't simply forget 8 years of my life where he annoyed me every day! Whenever I see him I just want to punch him and make him bleed!"

Poe looked at his friend, he'd never seen Sara so insecure, _She's probably never felt like this before,_ he thought, understanding her anger. "Sara: fuck him. Literally. You two have got years of unresolved business, nothing a good talk and a night of angry sex can't solve."

Sara looked at him and had to admit (at least to herself) that he was right. "What if I want more than just a night of angry sex with him?" she whispered, insecurity clear in her voice.

"Girl, listen to me: if you put on a white dress and walked up to a Temple, Ben'd follow and marry you right then and there – that guy is mad, he freaking loves you!"

"And that makes him mad?" she frowned at her friend.

"Don't get me wrong, I love you, but you run into danger, blow things up without a second thought and can shock people with your fingers. Ben wants to marry that, therefore he is not right in the head."

Sara glanced at Ben again, trying to see in him just the man that wrote her the letter, but she couldn't; actually, she was beginning to see a lot more than just that and the strength of those feelings scared her shitless.

* * *

After she finished her lunch, Sara went for a walk in the woods; the silence and the fresh air amid the trees always helped her relax. She sat in her favorite spot in a clearing and lay back on the soft grass, arms behind her head, eyes closed. She loved what she'd seen at the Temple, it was a lovely future beside a man she'd be lying if she said she didn't love. Ben's letter had made her fall for him, for the romantic man that admitted he had wronged her and was sorry for hurting her feelings. But the Ben she had brought to Lothal wasn't just the letter's author, neither was he the brat she'd once studied alongside, she had begun to realize: they had both changed.

"Bridger?" suddenly she heard.

"What is it, your worshipfulness?" she asked, adding the insult but there wasn't annoyance in her voice, she actually smiled.

Ben hesitated, trying to understand the sudden lack of animosity, before speaking: "My mother's asked for both our presences in her office as soon as possible."

"All right then, let's go." And she jumped to her feet and looked at him; he had changed his training clothes to jeans and a dark blue shirt. _He looks so good. _She thought, wanting to just push him down onto the ground and fuck him right there. But she controlled her impulses, and they just walked side by side out of the woods in silence.

Ben didn't sense any irritation from her, which was odd.

"What is it?" he asked.

"What is what?"

"You're not angry."

Sara shrugged and smiled.

"Somehow that smile makes me even more worried." He said softly.

She laughed and Ben touched her arm, stopping her. But before he could speak she said: "Look, I'm working on my… anger issues regarding you – the old you. Just… don't push me. I'm not used to feeling like this."

He nodded and smiled, making Sara want to punch and kiss him or kiss and punch him – either order was good; but she did neither, she just sighed instead and they walked to Leia's office, knocking and entering once they'd reached it.

"You called us, General Organa?" asked Sara.

"Sara, Ben. Yes. I received a call for help from Kashyyyk a couple of days ago. Han and Chewie were going to take them some provisions but I don't know how soon they're going to arrive here, and I'd like to save us all the time we have and board the supplies right away. Chewie's wife, Malla, is the one who called me, she said they're having a hard time feeding everyone and buying ammunition to defend themselves."

"They really are." Said Ben. "The wookiees have been fighting the First Order's invasion since the beginning. They've also been suffering from blockades and bombardings for quite some time now."

"Yes. So you'll take them a few provisions." Leia handed a paper to Sara. "This is the list of things you must take, go to the warehouse, have those boarded, and leave as soon as possible. Malla is waiting for you."

Sara nodded, looking at the list, and thinking how long it'd take them to get everything on board. "We must be ready to go in about three hours maximum, General." She looked at Leia and the woman had a frown and was staring at her in a funny way. "What is it?" Sara asked.

To which Leia asked: "Is everything ok?"

"Sure, General. It's a very simple mission, we will hardly find any difficulties on the way. Why do you ask?"

"Probably because you're not complaining about going on a mission with me." Said Ben, smiling.

"Now that you've mentioned it: I do have a carbonite chamber in the ship. Annoy me and you'll have a taste of it, Solo." and she left the room.

Ben looked at his mother, utterly confused: "A minute ago she said she was working on her anger issues rearding me and now I'll be tasting carbonite?"

"That's Sara, Ben." Leia said, smiling. "Get used to it. And may the Force be with you, my son, for you'll need it."

* * *

Ben saw Sara landing the Mirrorbright by one of the many warehouses; she opened the ship's cargo door and walked down the ramp, giving the list of things they needed to board to the man in charge there. The man nodded and soon many members of the Resistance began carrying arrying a lot of boxes into the Mirrorbright. He thought that talking to Sara right then wouldn't be a good idea so he walked to the guys and offered his help.

* * *

Sara walked away from her ship and stopped beneath a tree, sitting down to check her datapad. After a while she looked up and was unable to look away: Ben was helping the guys board the boxes into the ship, he carried the heavy boxes from the warehouse to the Mirrorbright with ease, his muscles flexing as he picked them up, walked up the ramp and out again to go fetch another box; his hair was looking messy, a few strands sticking to his face, his plump lips moving in a way she (correctly) guessed he was chewing gum.

"So fucking sexy and he's not even trying." suddenly Sara heard Poe say beside her, she was so distracted she hadn't even sensed him approach. "So you're going on a mission with him?"

"Yes." She replied with some attitude, getting up from the ground.

"Just the two of you, in the Mirrorbright, for how many days?"

"About four."

"Mmm."

"'_Mmm'_ what?"

"Nothing. I'm certain of the outcome of that trip."

Before Sara could reply, Ben stopped behind her, saying: "Hi there, Poe. And we're done boarding the cargo, _Precious_." He added the nickname to spite her.

And it worked, Sara turned around fast to face him, being forced to take a step back, for he was very close to her, "You're really dying to know how carbonite tastes, aren't you, royal douchebag?" She angrily replied, trying hard to focus on his face, but the blue shirt, wet with sweat, sticking to his skin, showing off his muscles, was too distracting.

"Be ready to leave in an hour." She managed to add before storming into the main building.

Poe laughed and shook his head. "If you still had any doubts that she was attracted to you, that's your answer."

"No doubts about that." Ben took a deep breath. "But it's not going to be easy…"

"No. And she's feeling insecure, which is not something she'd used to feel. So be careful, my friend."

"Careful? No. I'm done being careful around her. I'll take every chance I get and kiss her."

"Like this morning?"

"Yep. She kissed me back, even wrapped her arms around me, man. She loves me!"

"Yes, she does. So all you have to do now is help her overcome her insecurity while not losing a limb to her pride, stubbornness and electric fingers." Poe patted Ben's shoulder. "Good luck my friend. I hope you come back alive and in one piece."

"And not frozen in carbonite." Ben added.


	5. The Letter

**In the Mirrorbright, on their way to Kashyyyk**

Sara was doing her best to control her thoughts and keep her focus on piloting her ship and not on how sexy her co-pilot looked. Ben glanced at her, occasionally, and smiled, and the already familiar conflicting desire to hurt him and kiss him surged inside of her every time. To help keep those feelings under control, she spoke to him just the extremely necessary, so most of the time she kept her mouth shut and her eyes on the panel and monitors.

Ben respected her silence, the last thing he needed was to annoy Sara, for he knew she could very well be true to her threat of freezing him in carbonite. He helped her whenever she asked for help, but mostly he just watched her piloting the ship, her blue eyes focused on the panel and monitors, occasionally glancing at him. He could sense her attraction whenever her blue eyes turned to him and that made him want to pull her towards him and kiss those pink lips (_Is she wearing lipstick?_), have her sit on his lap and touch her until their clothes came off.

* * *

A few hours after they had left Lothal's orbit, the control panel stopped working.

"What's…? Oh, no." Whispered Sara, flicking switches and clicking buttons that were completely unresponsive.

"I think we've been captured in a tractor beam."

"It looks like it. Fuck!" She looked out of the window in anger and worry. "But if they think they're getting my ship without a fight, they're in for a big surprise." She walked out of the cockpit and to the door, her purple lightsaber in hand ignited.

Ben followed her, igniting his lightsaber as well.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she exclaimed, turning to face him when she heard him igniting his weapon.

"Helping you?" Ben asked, a little confused by her question.

"With _that _thing?" she pointed to his crossguard red lightsaber. "That's Kylo Ren's lightsaber, idiot! I can't believe you haven't fixed it!"

"Fixed it?"

"Yes! 'Cause you're not a terrible evil Sith-apprentice that cracked your kyber crystal with your evil deeds – so you must've done something to make it red!" She turned her lightsaber off. "Give me that. And hold this." She took his lightsaber from him, turning it off, and gave her own for him to hold. She made his saber float in front of her, over her hands, quickly opening and analyzing it. "There it is." She picked something out of it and put it in her pocket, then she closed the hilt again, removing the crossguard feature.

The sound of the Mirrorbright being parked inside a hangar bay had them both turning on the lightsabers in their hands and getting ready to fight. The door was opened and Sara got ready to cut someone in the middle with Ben's, now dark blue, lightsaber when they heard: "Yes! I knew it was you two!"

"Father?" asked Ben, turning off the lightsaber.

Sara did the same as she stared at Han Solo and Chewbacca, completely baffled.

Ben walked down the ramp to hug his dad and the wookiee and Sara shook her head. "Why didn't you invite us in? Why use a tractor beam?" she asked as she walked towards them.

"And what would be the fun in that?" Replied Han.

"_Fun_? I can't believe it!' she said in exasperation, looking at both Solos and Chewie. "We could've hurt you!"

"I told him it was a bad idea." said the wookiee, hugging her.

"Leia asked us to offer our help if we happened to find you. I was dying to see you again, Ben! When your mother told me Sara had somehow rescued you, I was so relieved!" he pulled his son for another hug.

"_Rescued_? That's an overstatement." Murmured Sara.

"We'll take you to Kashyyyk." Continued Han. "Chewie wants to visit the family and we can help if trouble finds us. Come on, we have food in the kitchen." And they followed Han out of the hangar bay.

As they walked to the kitchen, Sara stopped a moment to get her anger under control._ I can't believe he used a tractor beam instead of calling us in. This is crazy!_ She looked at the other YT-series ship parked beside her Mirrorbright and smiled; _That's the Millennium Falcon_. She remembered seeing Ben arrive at the Temple with his father in that old ship.

Feeling much more in control of her emotions, Sara followed Ben and the others to the kitchen.

"What ship is this? A Baleen?" she heard Ben asking his father.

"Yep. This is our newest acquisition: the Eravana."

"Has mom seen it yet?"

"Well, she _knows _about it." said Han.

"She didn't like it." affirmed Ben, smiling.

"Nope. Not at all."

"So that's why you've decided to accompany us to Kashyyyk." Said Sara, sitting at the table beside Ben. "To avoid Leia's wrath."

"Leia gets upset about these things, she worries. And I don't want to see her upset, I am a just being a good husband." explained Han.

Sara scoffed. "We have very different ideas of what makes a good husband, Mr. Solo. My dad would be loth-rat food if my mother ever found out he'd lied to her."

Han glanced at his son, with worry. "Right."

Chewie gave each of them a spoon and a bowl with a deliciously smelling stew, and they all ate in silence for a while. When Sara got up to put her bowl in the sink, Han leaned towards his son, whispering: "Your mother said you're still interested in Sara."

"More than ever." replied Ben, nodding.

"You're brave, son. Hope you survive it."

And Ben chuckled, "So do I, dad."

And Sara walked back to the table.

* * *

After dinner, Sara and Chewie watched Han and Ben play chess.

"This is the loudest chess game I've ever witnessed." said Sara to Chewbacca.

"They're always like that." replied the wookiee affectionately.

Sara watched the two men shout at each other at every move the other made; they looked adorable together, she could see every mannerism that Ben had inherited from his father, and Han was genuinely happy to have his son with him. Ben looked at her and winked, making her realize she was certainly looking like a lovesick fool as she stared at him playing. She cleared her throat and got up, "I'm gonna go for a walk." she said to Chewie before going to the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Ben asked.

And his enquiry immediately annoyed her. "Why? Am I a prisoner, your highnessness?"

Han stifled a laugh and Ben replied: "No, _Precious_. I just want to know where you'll be in case I miss you." He said.

Sara didn't sense any irony in his voice, he seemed simply interested in knowing where she was going – and that had her suddenly feeling jittery, for she wasn't used to feeling protected and cared for by anyone other than her parents, and even they had learned to not be on her all the time after she left Yavin.

"I'll be on the hangar bay, royal nuisance." She finally replied, still annoyed by not so angry anymore.

Ben nodded and she walked out of the kitchen.

* * *

When Sara wasn't nearby anymore, Han burst out laughing. "What's with the insults, son?"

"They started in Yavin. I began to call her _Precious_ and she came up with a lot of names for me."

"Royal nuisance." Han repeated. "That's a good one. What else does she call you?"

"Highnessness, worshipfulness, royal douchebag... there are many."

"Your mother and I were like that, you know?"

"Yep. Mom told me. She said that's a sign I do have a chance with Sara."

"True."

"Before I burned down the Temple, I wrote her a letter, which she found and kept it. Sabine Wren, her mother, told me Sara cherishes that burned piece of paper." He suddenly stopped and looked at the wall, as if he had just remembered something.

"What is it?" asked Han.

"I've just realized: Sara doesn't know the whole letter. I could write it down again and give it to her."

"Or, better yet: recite it to her. If you remember it all." said Chewie.

"I do. I've thought about those words for months before I actually wrote them down. Thanks for the tip, Chewie. Let's hope she doesn't bite my head off before I finish reciting it, though."

"That girl is trouble, Ben."

"I know. But you're not the best person to give me relationship advice, dad. You married Vader's daughter."

That had Han and Chewie laughing.

* * *

After twenty minutes, Ben went looking for Sara and found her sitting on a stack of boxes in the hangar bay. He carefully jumped towards her, trying not to drop the cup he was holding; he almost fell backwards and Sara held is arm, helping him regain his balance. "Is that the best you can do?" she said softly, with a teasing smile.

"Yep." He replied, sitting beside her, amicably accepting her teasing and not adding to it. "I brought you some warm mocoa." he passed her the white cup he was holding.

"Oh, thanks. I love this." and she sipped the warm chocolate-y liquid, closing her eyes, savoring it.

And they sat in silence for a while. Ben watching her face as she drank the mocoa; every sip had her nearly sighing in pleasure – it was an interesting sight to see.

Sara didn't comment on his staring – she had that delicious mocoa to drink, and Ben had brought it to her – she was going to cut him some slack then. After a while, she spoke: "You know, seeing the Falcon made me think that we have much more in common than I've ever realized."

"How so?"

"In a way we both have had our futures chosen for us from the moment we were conceived. I'm the Gateway's next guardian and you, you carry so much..." she stopped, looking at him.

"I don't think about any of that." He replied matter-of-factly. "Snoke liked to bring my grandfather up nearly every day but I've never been directly affected by his doings, all I've ever known are stories."

"Yeah. Me too. My parents have told me about the Rebellion but... We didn't live that. It's strange how we can be part of something but have no idea what it truly was." She sighed before continuing: "But you're also the heir to the throne of Alderaan."

He shrugged. "I grew up seeing my mother be a politician, talking and dining with the surviving alderaanian families in our house in Chandrilla and in the apartment in Hosnian, always solving problems. We've been several times to the Space Station too – so caring for them has always been part of my life. As a kid, the Falcon was just my dad's old ship – I only learned her meaning and importance after I was a teenager. And uncle Luke was always that: my uncle – then my Master – but I never saw him as the Galaxy's savior. It may all seem much from an outsider's point of view but... my only real concerns are to stop Palpatine and be a good ruler after my mom."

Sara just looked at him for a while, then she averted her gaze, finishing her mocoa.

"Look at us." Whispered Ben. "A whole conversation with no insults thrown or wounds inflicted."

That made Sara smile. "I've always known we could be good friends, since the first moment I heard about you..." She looked down at her empty cup. "I had so many friends in Lothal, I was used to that. I thought it would be so easy to befriend you too."

"And I crushed your friendship dreams." He said.

"Something like that."

"I know you're still mad at me, Sara, but..."

"I swear if you tell me _'we were kids then, we've grown up since_' I'm gonna push you down."

He chuckled.

Sara just looked at the Falcon again.

"Hey, kids!" Han called them. "We're hitting the sack. We have a room available here in the Eravana for you two."

"Great! I'm beat." Said Ben, "Let me take that to the kitchen." he reached out his hand to her empty cup, and Sara gave it to him; then he jumped down, going to the kitchen.

Sara jumped down too and walked past Han, but going the opposite way Ben had gone, saying: "I'll sleep in the Mirrorbright."

"Nonsense, kid! We have a perfectly comfortable room here." Said Han.

"I know what everyone is trying to do, Mr. Solo," Sara lowered her voice so that only he heard. "But that ship's going to sail when I feel it's ready to sail. So, no, I'm not sharing a room with your son today, I'm sleeping in my own room, in my ship." And she walked into the Mirrorbright.

Ben walked into the hangar bay again and saw her walking up the ramp of her ship.

"Where's she going?" he asked, a little worried.

"Nowhere. To sleep in her own room." Han looked at him. "You two looked pretty comfortable with each other, talking up there."

"Yep. But she's hurt and somewhat insecure – according to Poe. And she's not used to feeling like that."

"Are you sure you want that crazy Mando woman, Ben?"

"Absolutely. But she wasn't born on Mandalore, you know; she's from Lothal."

"Thank goodness. Imagine if she had! Her crazy grandmother would've taught her their way of life and she'd be even more dangerous."

Ben just nodded, looking at the Mirrorbright with a certain longing.

"You're insane, son." Added Han.

"Well, dad, let me tell you the equally insane story about a smuggler that landed himself a Princess who ended up being the daughter of a Sith Lord."

"Very funny, kid. But I see your point." Han sighed. "She's also a Bridger, the Temple in Lothal is her responsibility, you know."

"Yes. And I'll live there with her. She knows I've got future responsibilities too, so those won't be a problem. Now I only have to find a way to survive this courting process."

"Good luck with that, kid. For you'll need it."

* * *

Sara opened the door to her room, flicked the lights on and stopped, looking at the neatly folded stack of black clothes on top of her bed. She walked to it and picked the first item up. _These are Kylo Ren's clothes_. She realized, recognizing the long-sleeved vest. She sat on the bed, picking up another item from the pile: a long-sleeved undershirt. She brought it to her nose before she could stop herself. It smelled faintly of perfume and clean laundry, and a hint of the woodsy smell she'd began to associate as Ben's. _He must've changed in here the day we arrived on Lothal. _She looked around and saw his mask lying on the floor by the foot of the bed, beside his boots, and sighed. She put the undershirt on her pillow and picked up the rest of his clothes, putting them on a small armchair by the bed. She changed into her pajamas and lay down on the bed, pulling the black shirt towards her face, unashamedly smelling it and giving into the need to touch herself as she filled her lungs with his scent.

* * *

About an hour after she'd gone to bed, Sara was awakened by the sounds of gun shots, she took her Kal dagger from her nightstand and ran out of her ship, into the hangar bay, crouching behind a large metal box to assess the situation. Apparently, a group of pirates had invaded the ship; Ben was fighting three men, with his fists and a blaster (just a pair of dark blue pants covering his body – no shirt), while Han and Chewie shot against another ten. Ben killed one of his assailants but the other two managed to disarm him, he quickly grabbed one of them by the throat and twisted his neck, killing him too. Sara had to admit that it had been something really interesting to watch, especially considering his shirtless state. The third man was about to shoot Ben and he hadn't seen him, so she stood up and threw her Kal dagger right between the pirate's eyes.

Ben was surprised to see the man suddenly fall down with a dagger between his eyes; he looked in the direction that dagger had come from and saw Sara running towards him, calling her dagger back to her hand by the means of the Force and wiping it on her pants. "Who are these guys?" she asked him, as two more men ran towards them.

"Kanjiclub's thugs. They say dad owes him some credits." he began to fight one of the pirates.

"And does he?" asked Sara, engaging the other one – who made the terrible mistake of running his mouth:

"It'll be my pleasure to take down such a pretty thing like you. I'm keeping you..."

"Oh, boy." murmured Ben, killing his assailant. "You're so dead."

Sara frowned and looked at the pirate, pondering how to kill him. She decided using the Force would be too merciful to such a disgusting creature, so she kicked him in the throat and, with one precise jump over him, she twisted his neck while still in the air and fell back down before the man's body crumpled to the floor.

"So, does your father owe this Kanji-whatever guy money?" she asked, walking towards Ben, briefly glancing at his chest.

"Probably." Ben smiled, wanting to wrap her in his arms and kiss her senseless.

Sara narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, sensing his thoughts, before extending her arm at two other pirates that were running towards them, she just threw them through the hangar's open door right into the deep space, angrily. Ben ran towards his father to help him and Chewie defeat the remaining pirates and Sara followed him. They crouched behind some boxes and Ben shot at the pirates.

"I don't have a blaster." she said.

"My lightsaber is in the kitchen." Ben replied.

Sara reached out her hand towards the kitchen and in seconds a lightsaber came flying to her hand.

"Wait, this is mine!" she exclaimed.

Ben just shrugged, focused on shooting at the pirates.

Sara ignited her purple saber and said: "Cover me." And she jumped on top of the boxes they'd been hiding behind.

"What?" exclaimed Ben, taken by surprise by her actions. "You're insane! Get down from there!" he shouted, shooting at the pirates that had made Sara their primary target now.

But she was too good with the saber, not only their shots never hit her, but she was able to deflect them all back into the pirates, killing four in under two minutes.

"We can't kill them all!" shouted Han. "Some of them must return with a message or they'll just send more thugs after us!"

"Got it!" shouted Sara, raising one hand towards the five men still shooting at them, and in the next second they were all disarmed and floating about three feet from the floor. She jumped down from the boxes and walked closer to them, saber still ignited in her hand; she raised her other one and said: "You'll leave this ship immediately." A strong energy was felt around the hangar bay and Han looked from Sara to Ben, shocked when the five pirates repeated her words. She continued: "You'll admit to your boss that Mr. Solo did pay you the credits he owed your boss, but you spent it all on your own." The men repeated again. Sara let them down slowly and they moved to their ship without another word, as if hypnotized. Once their ship was out of the Eravana, they all gave out a relieved breath.

"Thanks, kid." Said Han, walking towards her. "How come you didn't do that?" he asked Ben, with indignation.

"I've never trained to control more than one person at once." Ben shrugged.

"Master Luke didn't let us use the manipulation very often." Said Sara, for some reason feeling like she had to defend Ben. "But my father's trained me daily after the Temple was closed, and he always thought it was an important skill to perfect. Anyway, you're welcome."

"Is that a Kal?" asked Han, pointing to her dagger.

"Yep. My grandma gave it to me for my fourteenth birthday." said Sara.

Han glanced at Ben as if saying: _See what I meant before?_

"Let's clean up the hangar and go back to sleep." said Chewie, picking up two of the dead bodies and putting them inside one of the metal boxes there.

"Put them by the door and we'll throw them into space." said Sara, walking towards the open door of the hangar.

"I'll help you." said Ben, following her.

But as they used the Force to levitate the corpses and throw them outside, a shot was heard and Sara suddenly shouted in pain and was going to fall onto the floor if it weren't for Ben running towards her and wrapping one arm around her waist, holding her close to him.

"Sara, are you ok?" he whispered.

"Yes."

And they both looked at where the shot had come from and saw that one of the pirates they had deemed dead had grabbed a gun and was limping towards them. Ben and Sara both raised the hand they weren't holding on to the each other, and just like that the man was dead – with a broken neck and an imploded heart.

Ben turned back to Sara, holding her with both arms, worried.

"I'm fine." she insisted. "It just grazed my leg." Then she realized she was being held against his chest so she pushed him away. "I can stand on my own, thanks."

Ben smiled and she looked annoyed.

"How bad is it?" asked Han, pointing to her leg, where blood was tricking down and soaking her pajama bottoms.

"It hurts. A lot." She admitted with a sigh. "Let's finish throwing the garbage away and then I'll clean it up."

"No, kid. We can do that; you go take care of that wound." said Han. "It's bleeding a lot."

She didn't argue, "Can you help me bandage it, Chewie?"

"Sorry, but my fur would get in the way. Ben can help you."

"Right." She narrowed her eyes at the wookiee as if saying: _Even you, Chewie_. Then she turned around and began limping to her ship.

Han nudged at his son to go after her.

Ben didn't say a thing, he just walked after Sara and swiftly scooped her up from the floor, carrying her towards her ship, as she kicked and screamed: "Let me down, Solo!" she had her dagger on his throat. "I'll have your head for this! You'll wake up…"

"With my mouth filled with carbonite, I know." He said, in a bored tone, ignoring the blade on his neck. "But first I'll help you clean up your wound." He quickly walked into the Mirrorbright, put Sara on the couch in the leaving room and grabbed the emergency kit in a kitchen cabinet. She didn't say another word as he kneeled on the rug by her feet and ripped out the leg of her pajama bottoms, assessing her injury.

The feeling of his warm hands on her leg had Sara shivering slightly; she wondered how it would feel to have him move his hands upwards, caressing her thighs and... his voice brought her back from her daydream: "It's nothing serious. You'll live, loth-cat." He said softly and started to clean up her wound.

He heard her sharp intake of breath a second before she said: "Don't call me that."

And he didn't reply, focusing on bandaging her leg. Once it was all done, he got up to put the emergency kit back in the kitchen cupboard.

"What you did with the pirates was pretty impressive." He said, walking back to the couch. "To use compulsion in five people at the same time."

"My record was ten. Never tried on more than that though, so who knows?" she bragged a little, putting her dagger and lightsaber on the coffee table.

"You're truly amazing, Sara." His tone admiring.

She gulped, feeling uncomfortable under his adoring gaze; she got up quickly, feeling her leg instantly protest, but she blocked the pain and walked to the small kitchen, not looking back at him.

"We still have at least eight hours until we get to Kashyyyk. I'll make myself some tea and go back to bed. Do you want some?"

"Yes. Thanks." He replied, silently watching as she heated up the water, prepared two small tea infusers with some dried leaves, and put them into two porcelain cups, pouring the water afterwards.

Sara was walking back to the couch with the two cups in her hands, when her leg sent a shock of pain up to her thigh and she stopped, wincing, before she could fall. Ben was on her in a second, taking the cups from her hands, putting them on the table and helping her to the nearest chair.

"I'm fine, Solo. You don't have to do this."

He helped her sit down by the table anyway. "Why do you insist on calling me Solo?" he asked.

"I'm just used to it." She shrugged.

But he looked at her intensely, sensing there was another reason. He sat on a chair near her, gave her one of the cups and sipped the other, thinking. Suddenly he smiled: "No. I think I know why."

"Why what?"

"You can't call me Ben because of the letter. Calling me by my surname – or insults – is your way of separating me from the letter. I'm _Solo_, while whoever wrote that is _Ben_."

Sara averted her gaze and sipped her tea in silence.

"I did write that, Sara." He continued, softly.

"I don't want to talk about it." She whispered into her cup.

He drank his tea, never taking his eyes off of her. She had just helped him kill a handful of men and now she sat there sipping tea and looking so cute and feminine in those pink pajamas, with a torn and blood-stained leg – which actually agreed with her temper, in some way – but Ben didn't dare call her cute out loud, she'd certainly feed him carbonite if he did that.

Sara didn't look at him again, the sound of his voice calling her_ loth-cat _still rang in her mind. Although it had taken her by surprise, she'd liked it, she loved that stupid nickname. She didn't need to look at him to know he was staring at her, making her feel self-conscious about her messy bun and her girly (torn and stained) pajamas. She finished her tea in silence, finding the white kitchen upper cabinets very interesting.

"Which half of the letter do you have?" Ben asked as she was getting up from the chair to put her cup in the sink.

"The beginning."

"Would you like to know the other half?"

"No." she replied a little too fast, turning to face him, her arms crossed over her chest and her butt resting against the lower cabinet by the sink.

"Ok." He accepted her answer, even though he could feel she was lying, and got up from his chair.

Sara didn't move away from the sink when he approached to put his empty cup in there. Neither did she move when he turned on the kitchen faucet and began to wash the cups and the tea infusers. He was just two feet away from her, so she took her time admiring his profile while he seemed to be focused on the dishes, a sudden need to get close to him surging inside of her – something she didn't give into. "It's been two years." She whispered, looking away from him before the wave of feelings inside of her had her doing something stupid. "You can't remember what you wrote."

Ben turned off the faucet and faced Sara, smiling, beginning in a soft tone: "Loth-cat, I must begin by asking you for permission to call you by that sweet nickname – for I'm not worthy of saying your name when I myself, many times, have already wronged it." And Sara gasped, recognizing he was reciting the letter, her eyes getting huge in her face, her arms uncrossing, and a little panic taking over her body. "Loth-cat, I beg for your forgiveness." He continued, looking into her eyes.

"No, Solo, stop." She whispered, but her eyes couldn't leave his face, letting him know she yearned for him to go on.

"I'm nothing but an idiot when it comes to you." He kept on reciting. "I wish I had done everything differently, loth-cat, but I didn't know how to act around you; you and your beautiful eyes, unique blue hair. I love it when, at the end of a training day, you let your curls down after showering and put on a dress to walk by the waterfall, generally barefoot. I wish I could walk by your side, holding you close to me, and kiss you by the beautiful pool."

She looked away from him, her heart pounding in her chest, the love that his letter awakened in her was threatening to suffocate her. "Stop."

"I hurt you loth-cat, I know," he took a step closer to her, putting a hand under her chin, making her look up into his eyes again, her lips parted in anticipation; and he continued, his voice low and heavy with emotion. "But forgive my young self – insulting you was the only way that boy knew how to have your deep-sea blue eyes looking at him, and at such tender age, your frown was better than your indifference."

"Stop it, please." She closed her eyes for he was about to begin the other half of the letter, the half she'd never read for the fire had consumed it.

Ben moved his hand from her chin to her cheek, taking a step closer, lowering his mouth to hers, almost touching their lips together, "How I dream of talking to you without seeing you frown; how I yearn of being the reason you smile, seeing that sparkle in your eyes and know I was the one that put it there. But I've been hurting you, lovely loth-cat, since the first day I saw you." He kissed her softly, and she softly whimpered, eyes still closed. "And you must know that I regret every word I said to you – if only I understood what I was feeling then. For now I recognize my feelings for what they are – what they have always been: infatuation, adoration, admiration, love."

"Enough. Please, stop." She opened her eyes to look at him again, and was unable to tear her gaze away from his, for she could see in his brown eyes all the feelings that left his lips.

"Yes, Loth-cat, I love you, admire you, and fear you – for you could easily destroy me. I've been teasing, annoying and diminishing you for so long that, in my desperation for your love, I've taught you to hate me. And that's my biggest regret. For as I write this, I wait for what will most likely be my last journey and I've never had the chance to apologize to you; so, I'm sorry. I dream of you, of a future we'll never have, of your body trembling in pleasure under me." He teased her bottom lip with his tongue before suckling on it briefly, making her tremble. "I love you, Loth-cat. If you ever find this, I hope you can find in your heart a way to forgive me and, perhaps, unhate me. What a dream it would be to have you love me, admire me, adore me; because I love you, beautiful, crazy, untamed loth-cat. I whisper your name in my dreams, where I've never wronged you, and you smile whenever your blue eyes see me. I wish I had done it all differently. I love you, Sara. Eternally yours, Ben." he tried to kiss her again but she stopped him with a hand on his chest.

Sara' s bottom lip trembled slightly; she looked up at him, a tear scaping her eyes, her voice nothing more than a whisper: "Why?"

"Why I was an asshole to you? Because I didn't know what to do about my feelings. Why I wrote the letter? Because I thought I was going to die; I truly believed I wouldn't survive Snoke's training and I didn't want to leave this world without at least trying to ask for your forgiveness." He paused. "Do I have it?"

"No." she took a step back, putting some distance between them, letting out a shaky breath. "I don't think I'll ever forgive the boy I met at the Temple. I tried to be your friend there, but you kept on hurting me with your words and nicknames and insults." She shook her head. "I know now why you did it, but it doesn't change the fact that you did it; the memories still hurt." She took a deep breath. "And the man who wrote that letter…" she blinked and more tears fell down her face. "I don't think I can forgive him either; because I never knew him."

"Would you like to?"

"No. He frightens me. He makes me feel..." she sighed and hugged herself, not finishing the sentence.

"Sara." He walked closer to her, moving one hand to cup her cheek again.

"No. No no no." she jumped away from him. "Don't, Solo. Don't you dare!" she knew if he touched her again, she'd melt against him, his words still ringing in her ears, resonating in her heart, she knew she'd be able to taste them in his lips if she let him hold her close and kiss her again – she'd embarrassingly purr like a loth-cat then for sure. "I hate you for writing that. And I wish I could just go on hating the Solo I met at the Temple."

Then she limped as fast as possible to her room and locked the door. She hadn't seen her stupid ex-classmate as he recited the words she loved, no, she had started to see the man that had written her the letter, and more – and that scared her. Because she'd never needed anyone, but she craved him. She leaned against her bedroom door, feeling torn between lying on her bed or running back into his arms.

She knew how to hurt stupid Solo, but charming Ben? He'd be her undoing.


	6. The Feelings

**Eight hours later**

Sara was awakened by Han announcing, through the Eravana's speakers, that they were orbiting Kashyyyk. She opened her eyes and found his black undershirt crumpled by her pillow; bringing it to her nose, she smelled it and rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling, her heart heavy as she remembered the sweet words Ben had recited to her before she'd gone to bed._ I have to get my shit together._ She thought with a sigh: she loved and desired him, their bitter past had to be just that: their past, otherwise they wouldn't be able to have a future.

Sara got up from the bed, put on her uniform, grabbed her dagger and lightsaber (realizing it was his saber – _I must've brought it here after dinner last night._) and left her room, her wounded leg protesting a little.

When she reached the living room, she stopped dead on her tracks: Ben was sleeping on her couch, he hadn't left after their conversation. He was lying on his side, just the dark blue pajama pants covering his body, his upper body completely exposed to her gaze: his broad shoulders, thick arms, chiseled chest and six pack. She moved close to him before she could stop herself and shivered in desire, her body responding to that sexy male sight. But more than just a delicious package, Ben was funny, intense, romantic, intelligent. She'd cherished his letter for two years, letting her heart be taken by those words and long for that unlived love; but she'd never imagined they'd meet again and that those feelings and dreams would have a chance to come true.

Sara was admittedly a little scared of her own response to him; she wanted to lie down on top of him, rub against on his body, kiss his lips and have him pin her down and make her his. He stirred and she quickly left the living room, going to the cockpit to take the Mirrorbright down to Kashyyyk.

* * *

Ben sensed when she woke up; he heard her thoughts about their situation and also felt her surprise at finding him sleeping on her couch. Those eight hours had been the longest of his life, he'd kept his attention and focus on her after he recited the letter to her and he'd sensed each one of her feelings. He knew she'd lain on her bed and touched herself, while imagining his body on hers, thrusting into her, and the words he'd spoken. She had forgotten to close her mind, for she'd been so touched by his words that she hadn't thought about hiding her emotions. It'd taken every inch of his self-control to keep lying on that couch and not knock on her door. His dreams were filled with images of her giving herself to him, letting him pleasure her on that couch, against the wall, on her bed. When she stopped close to him and thought of rubbing against him, he had wanted to pull her to the couch and make love to her until she couldn't remember her own name.

* * *

Sara landed the Mirrorbright on Kashyyyk, beside the Falcon, and in a few minutes many wookiees appeared from among the trees to start unloading the supplies that she'd taken there. Once the last box was out of the ship, it was already late afternoon, so Sara and the others sat with the wookiees by a firepit to chat.

"We're so glad for your help." said Malla, Chewie's wife. "We would be starving in another two days. The First Order has destroyed most of our crops and the animals have fled the fields."

"General Organa said you can always count on the Resistance for help." Sara said, accepting a cup of their homemade mead.

Almost an hour later, she saw Ben walking from the woods towards them. He looked freshly showered and with a clean set of clothes on; a simple jeans and a long sleeved moss green shirt, boots on his feet. Sara averted her gaze and avoided looking his way, giving her full attention to the wookiees.

* * *

They enjoyed a delicious dinner of fruits and game meat, but Sara had to refuse a fifth refil of her mead – she was already feeling tipsy and her cheeks were certainly pink by the alcohol and the heat of the firepit.

On the other side of the firepit, across from Sara, Ben sat beside Waroo, Chewie's son, and watched her every move, not caring if she or anyone else noticed.

"She's really beautiful." said Waroo.

"Yes. I've declared my heart to her some hours ago. And now she's ignoring me."

"She's playing hard to get, then?"

"I wish she was playing. But no. She's confused and... We haven't been friends in the past – I was considerably rude to her for years."

"Wait. That's the girl from the Temple?"

"Yep."

"I remember you talking about her."

"What's going on?" asked Han, sitting beside his son. "Sara's not even looking your way. You could shout for help, if you were on fire, and still I bet she wouldn't even glance at you."

Ben sighed, "I told her what was in the burned half of the letter and…"

"She hated it."

"Not really." Ben smiled. "We kissed, she cried, said she'd rather I'd never written that and hid in her room. Sabine told me Sara was confused; now I'm almost sure she's not anymore, but she's afraid."

"She can't be tamed, son. Your mother is a wild one but that girl… she's got Mandalorian blood in her veins."

"I know. And I don't want to tame her. What a terrible word you keep using by the way." He looked at his father with a frown. "I want her by my side, fighting beside me, helping me, but above all: I want her love."

Han shook his head. "I have no idea who you got that romantic heart from."

"Uncle Luke said it's from Anakin." said Ben, with a small smile.

"Let's hope that's all you got from him." Han said, looking a little concerned.

* * *

Sara could feel Ben's eyes on her, and could bet he was talking about her with his father and Waroo. The night had fallen a couple of hours ago and she was beginning to feel tired after all the traveling and the surprises of the past hours. She decided to say her good nights and go to bed.

Ben watched her walk into the woods towards the Mirrorbright. "I'm going to wait a little and follow her."

"Do you think that's wise?" asked Han.

"No. If you don't see me tomorrow morning, you go looking for me in her carbonite chamber." said Ben, standing up.

But one unexpected sound had them all looking up at the sky and running for their weapons.

* * *

Sara had just reached the Mirrorbright when she heard the sound of ships quickly entering the atmosphere and landing nearby. She ran back to the firepit gathering, hearing a couple of shots in the distance. She reached the firepit just in time to see a ginger man walking closer to Ben and Han, a large number of troopers behind him. She hid behind a tree, lightsaber in hand, and listened.

"So, you're alive." Said the ginger. "I knew it."

"What do you want here, Hux?" Ben asked, igniting a purple lightsaber. And Sara recognized that was her saber, her mind briefly making her think how curious it was that they had been carrying each other's weapon.

"We're after the girl." said Hux. "The owner of the YT-series known as Mirrorbright."

"She's not here." said Han.

"Oh, but she is." Hux smiled. "And we'd better find her soon."

"Why do you want her?" asked Ben.

"Our new Supreme Leader needs her."

"New Supreme Leader?" asked Han.

"Where's she?" shouted the ginger, ignoring his question and pointing a gun at the wookiees. "She'd better come our, or I'll start shooting."

"You'll need more than that to kill a wookiee." Said Han.

"Kill? No no." Hux chuckled with evil intent. "This weapon is loaded with a psychotic drug that will make a wookiee mad with rage."

Waroo threw himself on Hux then and chaos ensued; troopers began shooting at the wookiees and Ben protected his father and some wookiees with the lightsaber. Sara joined the battle, running behind some troopers and slicing them with the blue saber in her hand. She raised her hand to destroy a couple of TIE-fighters that were shooting down at them as well.

"There she is!" shouted Hux, who had cowardly hidden behind a bunch of troopers. "Get her!"

And just like that most of the troopers were going towards her, blasters in hand. Sara wasn't in the least intimidated though, she ran to them before they'd reached her and killed many with her swift lightsaber moves and her kal dagger hitting right in the small exposed spot on the troopers' necks, between their helmet and shoulder armor.

Ben joined her, but even together they quickly saw they weren't going to be able to win that, for more troopers were arriving and they were soon outnumber by thirty each.

"Ben, stop!" shouted Han.

And everyone looked at him: he had been captured, two troopers were holding him down while Hux had a weapon against his head and another pointing at Chewie.

"Drop your weapons!" ordered Hux.

Sara glanced at Ben, and nodded. And they lowered their lightsabers and other weapons.

"I'll go with you." She raised her hands. "Let them go."

"Sara. No!" exclaimed Ben, holding her arm. "I won't let you do this!"

"Shut up, Solo." She replied, "Since when do I need your permission? Try to tell me what to do again and the ginger guy over there will be the smallest of your problems."

Everyone fell silent for a few seconds, the troopers looked at one another not knowing what to do next; none of them wanted to get closer to her to cuff her. Even Hux was shocked.

"But this is very interesting." Said Hux, looking at Ben and Sara. "You're truly pathetic, Ren, letting a woman talk to you like that." Then he looked at Sara. "Our Supreme Leader will be very pleased to receive you, dear."

Sara got her arm free from Ben's grip and walked close to Hux, the troopers opening a path for her. She seemed calm, which was weird considering their predicament. "I'll go with you. Let my friends go." she stopped in front of Hux.

And the First Order General frowned, seeming a little confused for a moment. Sara smiled and repeated, assertively: "You'll let us all go."

"I... I'll let you all go." Hux suddenly murmured.

Han glanced at his son, absolutely impressed with what she was attempting to do.

Sara took a deep breath, relieved her attempt of controlling his mind had worked, then she got closer to him and continued in a low voice: "You'll call off this attack on Kashyyyk."

"I'll call off this attack on Kashyyyk."

"You won't ever order another attack on this planet." she said.

"I won't ever order another attack on this planet." he repeated.

"Now, you'll return to your Supreme Leader and tell him I'm not interested in what he's offering." Hux repeated. "Tell your ships to leave the planet's orbit." And he obeyed again. "Now, you'll leave."

"Now, we'll leave." and Hux walked to the troopers, ordering them to return to their ships and leave. The men hesitated and looked at their General and if they weren't wearing helmets, everyone would've been able to see their faces of confusion.

Once they'd all left, Ben ran to Sara and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards him. "What did you think you were doing?" he shouted.

"Saving our asses!" she answered just as loudly, making him let go of her arm.

"He could've shot you!"

"No. I was careful to test my compulsion first. I had him under my control. Plus: he needs me alive, he wouldn't kill me." She looked at the wookiees, "Sorry for bringing trouble here." Then she walked to where the two lightsabers and her dagger were lying on the ground, throwing the black saber at Ben with no warning. "We should leave now, before they get back."

Ben followed her in silence – anger and fear brewing inside of him. He purposely walked many steps behind her, trying to calm down his feelings. If Sara's mind control hadn't worked, Hux could've taken her, shot her. He closed his eyes, stopping by the Mirrorbright's ramp, considering maybe to go back to the Eravana in the Falcon to avoid confronting Sara. He heard the ship's engines being turned on and decided he couldn't postpone talking to her anymore, so he walked up the ramp slowly and the door closed behind him – Sara closed it from the cockpit. Ben walked down the corridor to the cockpit, hearing her clicking buttons and flipping switches in there; but he still felt too out of control to face her, so he stopped a few feet from the door, trying to calm down his racing heart. However, before he could go towards her, he was unexpectedly attacked.

* * *

Sara heard the loud sounds of struggle and ran to the corridor.

"Ben!" she exclaimed in shock at seeing him wrestling with a huge wookiee.

The big furry being punched Ben in the face, making him fall onto the floor, and charged towards her. Sara defended herself as well as she could in that situation, she frantically palmed her sides in vain, remembering her lightsaber and dagger were in the cockpit. "Hux must've shot him with the drug!" she shouted, as she protected her face from another furious blow.

Ben stood up but his vision was somewhat blurry from the strong hit he took, "We'll have to kill him!" he shouted.

"I'm accepting ideas on how to do that!" she replied, managing to hit the wookiee in the stomach but she was physically way weaker than him, he barely leaned forward and only became angrier. The furious furry creature hit the side of her head, and Sara lost her balance, but never hit the floor for he grabbed her by the neck, lifting her from the floor and choking her. She looked into his eyes, trying to connect with the wookiee through the Force but the drug seemed to have messed up his brain. She tried to shock him then, but she didn't have enough oxygen in her to muster up the emotional strength necessary to hit him with lightning. She closed her eyes, unconsciousness beginning to claim her.

Suddenly she heard a lightsaber being ignited and the wookiee let go of her throat. Sara fell onto her knees, both hands massaging her neck as she gulped for air. She opened her eyes and saw the wookiee on the floor: his headless body still twitching as blood pooled out of his neck.

"Are you ok?" asked Ben, turning of his lightsaber and helping her up, touching her face, worried.

"Yes. I'm fine." She wanted to be annoyed at him but she was too shaken up to think of any insults.

He pulled her into a hug and she allowed herself to melt in his arms, smelling his scent on his clothes and enjoying the comfort of his body against hers.

After a while, Ben slowly let her go and Sara looked down at the dead wookiee on the floor.

"We must take him outside and explain what happened here to the others. He may have had a family..." She whispered, her voice breaking as heart ached for them; she remembered her vision at the Temple and her own future family, she looked up at Ben and trembled slightly, tears suddenly filling up her eyes and fear wrapping around her heart. "I'll get a gurney from the infirmary." she said, walking down the corridor before the tears fell.

Ben silently nodded and watched her walk away from him, sensing she needed to get away from that sight (and him) for a while.

* * *

Sara and Ben took the dead wookiee to the village and what she'd feared proved to be true: he had a wife and two kids.

"His name was Krawn." said Malla, as they watched the wife of the dead wookiee and his kids cry over his dead body.

"I'm so sorry..." said Sara, tears falling from her eyes in the face of that heartbreaking scene.

"No one here blames you, Sara; or Ben, for his death." continued Malla. "It was Hux who shot Krawn with the rage serum."

"But they were here for me." she whispered, turning around and walking away from the village, towards the Mirrorbright.

Ben followed her in silence.

* * *

When they walked back into the Mirrorbright, Sara sat on the couch and Ben stood close by, thinking of what he could say or do to make her feel better; he'd even tried to annoy her by calling her _Precious_, and she hadn't replied, not even to threaten to freeze him in carbonite.

Ben went to the kitchen and opened up the cabinets, looking for something to prepare that could make her feel better. He found a few cans of powdered mocoa and knew that she wouldn't refuse one. He prepared her a cup and walked to the couch.

"Here." he whispered, giving her the cup.

"Thanks." she replied, taking the warm cup and sipping its creamy content.

He sat beside her on the couch and watched as she drank the mocoa, she closed her eyes and sipped her drink slowly.

"I can't stop thinking I destroyed a family today." she whispered.

"It wasn't your fault, Sara. Hux sentenced Krawn to death the moment he decided to shoot him."

She didn't reply.

After finishing her mocoa, she put the empty cup on the coffee table in front of them and, without saying a word, she leaned towards Ben, resting her head on his shoulder.

He moved his arm from under her and wrapped both arms around her, pulling her towards his chest, wanting to comfort her – and himself too for the dread of losing her was still with him. _She could've died twice today_. He tightened his arms around her and Sara fisted her hands in his shirt, crying softly.

After a while, he sensed her body relaxing and looked down to see her face: she had fallen asleep on his chest. Ben slowly moved and picked her up, loving how she wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her to her bedroom.

He laid her down on her bed and saw a piece of black fabric peeking out from under her pillow. He pulled on it, recognizing it. "This is my shirt." He whispered, looking around and finding the rest of his Kylo uniform on an armchair, his boots and mask on the floor beside it. _She's sleeping with my shirt_. He smiled, putting the piece of clothing beside her head on the pillow.

Sara immediately fisted her hand on the shirt and whispered: "Ben."

He had to control the desire to lay beside her. "Soon, loth-cat." He whispered, kissing her forehead before leaving the room.

* * *

**Note:** Hi, guys! Just wanted to let you all know that this story is almost all written up (about 11 chapters), and I wanted to post it all before the 19th so that Episode IX doesn't interfere with what I've written but I'm not sure I'll be able to (I'm an emotional wreck right now, can't imagine I'll be fit for writing as the 19th approaches). I hope you understand and hang in there 'cause the ending is coming.

Smutty next chapter is!


	7. The Surrendering

The funeral for the murdered wookiee, Krawn, was in the next morning, and Ben, Sara, Han and Chewie attended to pay their respects; but seeing the heartbroken community was affecting Sara in an emotional level she wasn't used to feel. She couldn't stop thinking of the family she had seen she could have with Ben in the future, and how she would feel if such a tragedy had happened to them.

She approached the widow – by Malla's insistence – with words of regret and sorrow, fearing the female wookiee's reaction to her presence. But Krawn's wife, Lynna, pulled Sara into a hug, whimpering: "None of this was your fault, dear Sara." and her sweetness only deepened Sara's feeling of sadness and guilt.

* * *

Ben watched Sara walking away from the gathering right after talking to Lynna, she went towards the beautiful lake that there was near the village and took off her shoes, walking about a meter into the lake, letting the water touch her bare feet, it was a little chilly that day, despite the beautiful sun, a cold wind ran through the village, shaking the trees and chilling those not covered in the thick wookiee fur coat.

"She's blaming herself, isn't she?" asked Han, stopping beside his son.

"Yes."

"Maybe you should go there..."

"I will, I'm just giving her some space right now, I feel she needs to be alone for a while." and he watched her a little longer. She was crying, he could tell by the way she occasionally wiped her face in the colorful blanket she had over her shoulders (painted by Sabine herself by the look of it). She paced in the shallow part of the lake, her blue curls all messy because of the wind, making her look even more beautiful in his eyes. He walked slowly towards her, watching her reaction. She felt him approach but didn't frown, she softly smiled instead, and his heart nearly stopped.

He reached her, and stood beside her, without saying a word, his boots stopping the water from wetting his feet; he looked at her face as she stared at the beautiful lake, her deep sadness reaching out to him. He took another step, closing the distance between them, and put an arm around her waist, expecting to be thrown away or cursed at, but she just sighed and got closer, laying her head on his chest, just like the night before.

"What's wrong, loth-cat?" he whispered.

She smiled at the nickname, "I feel so guilty, Ben. Hux came here because of me. I caused the death of that wookiee."

"No. Hux did it. I did it. But not you." He wrapped both arms around her, feeling her complete acceptance of his embrace in the way she slowly rubbed her face against his shirt. "It's not your fault the First Order is hunting you; Palpatine wants you for some twisted reason, and Hux came here to kidnap you. They are in the wrong, not you." he tightened his arms around her and felt her sigh against his chest.

Sara loved his smell, she rubbed her nose on his neck, remembering how she'd felt being carried by him to her bed the previous night; it had been so good to be in his arms, her ear over his chest, just listening to the sounds of his breathing and heartbeat.

They enjoyed the sound of the lake kissing the sand and the comfort of each other's presence for quite a while. The soft breeze reminding Sara of the vision she'd had at the Temple and she smiled. Ben felt her emotions slightly change and heard her chuckle softly.

"What is it?" he looked down at her face, with curiosity.

"I remembered something." She whispered, looking up at him, one hand holding her blanket over her shoulders and the other resting on his chest, her fingers toying with his shirt buttons. "The night I got to the Base late, I was coming back from the Temple; from the Gateway, to be more accurate. And the Force showed me something there, a glimpse of a future that could be mine."

"And it was good?"

"Very." She smiled and laid her head on his chest again.

"Was I in it?" he asked with a little hesitation.

She just chuckled again and fell silent; her lack of answer giving Ben hope that he'd been in that vision. After a while, she said: "Thank you for saving me."

"Anytime, Sara."

"I know last night wasn't the first time."

He looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"My dad told me I was the one supposed to go to Snoke, not you. But you overheard him and Leia talking and offered to go in my place. So thank you for that too."

"Anytime, loth-cat." He touched a hand to her face, watching her eyes to see if there was any hesitation from her part, he caressed her bottom lip with his thumb and slowly lowered his mouth to hers.

Sara sighed at the touch of his lips on hers, her hand moving up from his chest to the nape of his neck; and he licked her lips, asking for entrance, and she opened up to him. His tongue met hers and a passionate kiss ensued, the initial chaste encounter of lips quickly becoming heated, he pulled her closer to him, and Sara fisted her hand in his hair. They kissed until just kissing wasn't enough anymore, they needed to feel each other's skin. Sara stared up into his eyes, desire dilating her pupils.

"Are you still doubting this? Doubting us?" Ben whispered.

She shook her head and he took her mouth again, nearly violently, and they kissed for a long time.

The sound of a throat being cleared made them jump apart and stare at the man that had cleared it.

"I hate to interrupt you two." It was Han. "I really do. But we should leave before the New Supreme Leader Hux mentioned comes here himself."

Sara nodded and bent over to pick up her shoes.

"I could carry you." offered Ben.

"Don't even think about treating me like some sweet damsel in distress, Ben." replied Sara, a little annoyed. "I can put on my own shoes and walk to my ship, thank you."

Ben waited for her as she put on her shoes and he offered her his hand to help her up – a gentlemanly gesture that she accepted; but he held on to her hand and she glanced at his face before smiling and following Han Solo with her hand in Ben's.

* * *

Sara sat in the cockpit of the Mirrorbright and started to prepare the ship for take off. Ben sat beside her on the co-pilot's chair and respected her silence, he could feel she was still a little sad and feeling guilty.

She parked the Mirrorbright inside the Eravana, beside the Falcon, and turned off the engines.

Ben touched her arm, moving his hand down towards hers, entwining their fingers. Sara looked at him and smiled softly. "You know Hux won't stop chasing me, don't you?"

"Yes. I know. And he said they have a new Supreme Leader, so I can only guess Palpatine has found a way to return for real and is ordering Hux to take you to him."

"He wants me for my powers, according to my father."

"Yes. He tried to take Ezra years ago, but failed. Ahsoka Tano saved him. I know, I remember." he looked at her with concern. "Why are you talking about this, what are you thinking?"

"Maybe I shouldn't return to Lothal. I'll be endangering my family, the Temple and the Resistance. Plus, Lothal has just recovered its natural glory after years of pollution and destruction in the Empire's hands."

"Where will you go?" Ben wasn't liking where that conversation was going.

"I'm not saying I've planned it out. I'm just thinking that maybe I shouldn't return."

"Wherever you go, take me with you, don't leave me behind, loth-cat." He touched her face. "Please."

She just smiled, loving that nickname a little more every time he used it. She unbuckled her seat belt and leaned towards Ben, closing the distance between them, initiating a kiss that from the beginning was anything but shy. She got up from her seat and straddled his lap on the co-pilot's seat, her hands in his hair, going down his chest to open up the buttons of his shirt. As his hands moved under her shirt, pulling it off of her body.

Suddenly they heard from the speakers of the Eravana: "Get a room!"

But Sara didn't stop kissing his neck. "Tell your father to not be a perv and stop peeking at us."

Ben clicked a button on the ship's panel, calling the Eravana's control room.

"What?" answered Han.

"Stop peeking." said Ben, at the same time Sara said: "Stop being a perv."

Han laughed and hung up.

Sara finished opening up Ben's shirt and sighed against his lips at the feeling of his hands caressing her skin, gripping her hips and breasts. He trailed kisses down her neck and she bit his shoulder, "Find us a room, Ben." she whispered against his ear, moving her hips on his lap, needing some friction between her legs.

She didn't have to tell him twice. He stood up with her in his arms, her legs locking behind his back, and walked towards her room, stopping along the way as she pulled his hair and kissed his lips, driving him crazy. He pushed her against the wall, unclasping her bra and feasting on her breasts, her loud moans were like music to his ears.

"Get us to a bed, Solo, NOW!" she ordered.

He stopped, pressing her harder against the wall, "I'm _Solo_, again?"

"And that's all you'll ever be if you don't get us to a bed soon!" she pulled on his hair and bit his bottom lip.

He took her lips in an almost violent kiss, and she whimpered in his mouth, loving his savagery; he walked them to her bedroom, dropping her on the bed and quickly removed all of his clothes.

Sara enjoyed the view, not worrying about getting her own off; and as he stood naked in front of her, she kneeled on the bed, getting close to him, her hands touching down his chest, past his bellybutton and one hand wrapping around his dick, her fingers barely touching as she circled his girth. He opened up her pants and hooked his fingers in the waistband, pulling them down enough so that he could get a handful of her ass.

"I want you, Ben." she whispered as he bit her neck.

He pushed her onto the bed on her back and pulled her pants and underwear off of her, admiring her naked, curvy body, on the white sheets; her long dark blue curls sprawled around her head.

"You're gorgeous, loth-cat." he kneeled between her opened legs and caressed her body, starting on her face, dipping each finger in her mouth, letting her lick and suck on them as he watched – the sight making his dick twitch in need to have those lips around its head and not his fingers. He moved down to her breasts, pinching her hard nipples, noticing her reaction; he went down her belly and gripped her hips, watching as she arched on the bed, completely giving herself to him. He caressed her body upwards again till his hands were entwined with hers, above her head, and his strong body lay on top of hers, between her sprawled legs; he took her lips again, deeply, owning her mouth, swallowing her whimpers. She rubbed her legs on his sides, wrapping them on his lower back, trying to pull him into her. He kept both his hands on hers and moved his hips, rubbing his dick against her center, making her sigh and move against him, just as eager to get him in. He let go of her lips to kiss her neck. "Not even in my dreams I could do justice to how delicious you look right now, Sara." he murmured on her ear.

"Fuck me, now! Stop teasing!"

"Oh, no. But you're so gorgeous like this." he managed to penetrate the head of his dick in her pussy and she gasped. "Fuck." it was his turn to groan at the look on her face and the tight grip on the head of his dick.

She tightened her legs on his back and pulled him in half-way, the sudden invasion making her arch and moan. He got it all out and entered her fully in one long thrust. Sara shouted in a mix of pleasure and pain.

Ben closed his eyes at the feeling of her pussy wrapping tightly around his dick; he was going to give her so much pleasure she'd crave him as much as he craved her, she'd never even think about another man – he'd make her his. He began to move his hips slowly, getting almost all out of her just to penetrate her fully in the next thrust, the sensation driving them both crazy. He speeded up a little and she gasped, her channel clamping on his member, her moans increasing and he could feel she was cumming under him, "Fuck, you're even sexier than I could've ever dreamed." He groaned, her pussy massaging his cock and getting wetter as she moaned loudly. He took her lips again and let her hands go, bracing his elbows on the mattress to find a way to move deeper inside of her, keeping her in a prolonged state of ecstasy.

"Say my name, now, loth-cat." he ordered.

"Ben." she moaned, completely his, lost in the pleasure he was giving her, her hands in his hair, on his back, desperately holding on to him as he owned her body and soul. "Harder." she pleaded.

"I don't want to hurt you." he whispered as he kissed down her neck, between her breasts.

"Hurt me." she gasped. "Fucking fuck me harder!" she pulled on his hair and bit his lip, showing him she was only pliant under him because she wanted, "If you know what's best for you: .harder." she ordered.

He bottomed out inside of her and stopped moving his hips, taking both her hands with strength and pinning them on the bed over her head, using the Force to lock them there. "You asked for this, loth-cat." he whispered on her ear, one hand on her throat, not pressing, but there, showing her he could choke her if he wanted. He caressed down her neck to her breasts, pinching one reddened nipple as his tongue and teeth played with the other. She screamed in pleasure, "Move!"

"You're mine, now, loth-cat, and I'll pleasure you until you can't take it anymore."

She moaned and caressed her legs on his sides again and he used that moment to throw both her knees over his shoulders, finding a way to get even deeper inside of her, filling her up completely. He thrust into her furiously, alternating with long and slowly moves. He wanted to own her, that crazy, beautiful, strong, woman – he wanted her all for himself.

Sara was absolutely lost, her body was made of pure pleasure, that started deep inside her pussy and took over her skin, making her moan and whimper with every touch of his, with every pull of his lips and fingers on her nipples. And when she didn't think she could feel anything stronger, it happened: as he fucked her deep, trying to get even deeper inside of her with each strong thrust, a strong orgasm had her arching and screaming under him; his groans adding to her pleasure and she felt him spilling his cum deep inside of her.

Ben fell on top of her, kissing her lips as they both panted. She got her hands free from his Force-lock and caressed his face and hair. He didn't want to move. "I want to stay right here and fuck you until we die from it." he murmured between kisses.

"You won't see me complain." Sara chuckled, and looked up into his eyes, touching his face, "I fell for you, Ben; for your letter and... when I saw you in my ship, in Ren's clothes, I tried but I couldn't see the boy from the Temple anymore, I knew, in my heart, who I was seeing, and I... I tried to run from you, I was so scared of my feelings, of you." she kissed him. "I love you, Ben."

He smiled and soon was laughing, tears in his eyes at her confession. "I can die now, loth-cat." he caressed her face, kissing her lips sweetly. "I love you, I always have." he pressed his forehead against hers. "Will you marry me, Sara?"

She hesitated, those words catching her by surprise. She touched her lips to his again, thinking of her vision and smiling, "Will you try to tame me?" she asked, with a smile. "Cause if that's the case…"

"Never. I love you as you are: a fighter. I want you beside me, not behind me." He moved his hips slightly. "And under me too, of course." He kissed her smiling lips. "Will you be mine, Sara?"

"Yes, Ben. Now, fuck me!"

He deepened the kiss in response and moved inside of her, his dick hardening again, never having left her body. But before he could pick up a faster pace, Sara flipped them over, sitting on him and it was his turn to have his hands pinned against the bed; as she moved on top of him, her hands on his chest; she rode him slowly, giving him time to get fully hard so that she could fuck herself harder on his dick. It didn't take long for her to be sitting up and down on him, her breasts bouncing as she moaned and gasped, loving every time he thrust up when she sat down.

"I need to touch you..." he gasped.

"Do not get your hands free." she ordered. "Be a good boy."

He smirked, and sat up, quickly wrapping his arms around her and fisting one hand in her hair. "That's something I can't be, love." and he kissed her before ordering: "Get on all fours for me."

Sara shivered before obeying, putting her ass up for his appreciation; and he didn't waste a minute, getting up from the bed, he pulled her ass to the edge of the mattress and penetrated her fully, the new angle allowing him to get balls deep, feeling every spasm of her tight channel.

"Oh, fuck." he gripped her hips hard and pounded into her.

Sara could only shout and moan; and when he lowered one hand between her legs, touching her clit as he fucked her hard and deep, she screamed his name as a mind-blowing orgasm took over her. Her pussy clenched around his dick, sucking him deeper, getting hotter and wetter, and Ben couldn't stop him own climax, he pounded even harder into her and spilled his cum inside of her again. They fell on the bed, gulping for air, legs entwined; Ben pulled her closer and kissed her lips.

"I guess I'll have to stop calling you a nuisance now." She whispered over his lips, making him chuckle.

Ben looked into her eyes and tangled his fingers in her messy hair, tugging to make her lift her chin.

"You're mine now, Bridger."

"Says who?" she replied in defiance.

He kissed her again and they soon fell asleep, her head on his chest, both naked, covered in sweat, cum dripping down her legs, staining the sheets; their hearts as satisfied as their bodies.


	8. The Relationship

The Eravana reached Lothal's orbit and Han called Leia.

"Hey, Princess. We've arrived."

"It's so good to hear from you, nerf-herder." She replied, affectionately. "Have you heard from Ben and Sara?"

"Well, about that. I haven't seen them since yesterday, but I sure have heard them." He chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Leia smiled.

"We found them and now we're in the Eravana, but they haven't left the Mirrorbright since yesterday. So that's why I haven't seen them, just heard them."

"Fighting?" Leia worried.

"Fucking."

And she laughed, "I'm happy for them. Finally!"

"Bad things happened in Kashyyyk though. I'll tell you all about it when we land."

"See you soon, then."

And Han hung up, calling the Mirrorbright next.

* * *

Sara woke up to an empty bed; if it weren't for the delicious soreness she felt, and the fact she was completely naked, she'd thought it had all been a dream.

She closed her eyes remembering how amazing the past hours had been: Ben's touches and kisses – even better than her wildest dreams – the way he possessed her body, pleasuring her until she screamed in ecstasy. _He even proposed to me – and I said eyes! _She chuckled, her heart filled with joy and love, remembering the lovely future they could have one day.

"I could feel your happiness from the kitchen." said Ben, leaning against the door frame in just a pair of dark pants.

Sara lay on her side, not worrying about covering her body, and looked at him, smiling, her eyes traveling up and down his body. "Wait, aren't those Kylo Ren's pants?" she pointed to the mask.

"Yep. I borrowed them. I'm sure he won't mind."

Sara laughed and looked at him for a moment, "I can't believe this is happening. You and me in the same room, not trying to hurt or insult each other. Who'd have thought?"

"I certainly have." He smugly replied.

"And so have I." She admitted in a low voice. "After the letter, I dreamed of you almost to the point of obsession."

Ben walked into the room and sat beside her on the bed, touching a hand to her face and bringing his lips to hers softly. "I made us some sandwiches." He said.

She chuckled and sat up, kissing him again, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him to her. "You're just so annoyingly perfect."

"New insults?" He asked with a smile.

"Half-complimentary." She justified. "So it's half an insult. I'll need some time to get used to not shouting at you."

He playfully bit her bottom lip, "I'm sure you will keep shouting at me, specially when I try to protect you."

Sara made an annoyed face, "You can be fucking sure of that."

He kissed her lovingly, and looked down at her naked body. "You're so gorgeous." He ran a hand down her curves, loving how she unashamedly let it all exposed to his eyes. "I tried to get you out of my head, but every woman I ever met got compared to you – and none stood a chance ever."

"So, you met many women then?"

"Yes." He smirked, loving the jealousy in her voice. "But it was always you in my mind." He fisted a hand on her hair behind her neck, bringing their lips close but not touching. "I used to close my eyes and imagine it was you I was fucking." Then he pushed her onto her back on the mattress, kissing her neck and getting between her legs.

"I'll have to admit that I was equally pathetic." Sara decided to play the same jealousy game. "But no man I ever fucked was ever as intense as I needed."

He stopped his kisses and looked at her, she could feel the same raw energy she'd always felt from Kylo coming from him, "I don't wanna hear about it." Ben growled, taking her lips nearly violently. "The only touches you'll ever think about are mine!" he pinned her against the mattress with his weight and kissed her, possessing her mouth, barely giving her time to breathe; he made her open her legs farther apart and trailed kisses from her lips to her nipples, biting on them as he single-handedly lowered his black pants, freeing his hard cock and immediately thrusting inside of her.

Sara moaned and arched on the bed, in surprise and a mix of pleasure and pain. He moved deep and slowly, making her feel every slide of his dick into her pussy, pressing down at every in-stroke, lodging the head of his cock as deeply as possible.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and he pinned her hands on the bed, over her head, using the Force to keep them there.

"You're mine, Sara." He rasped, before biting her left nipple. "All mine." He touched down her sides, gripping her hips with strength, holding her in place, and pounding into her. Her moans turned louder and her face showed all the pleasure he was giving her: eyes closed shut, a blush on her cheeks and her pink lips parted.

"Open your eyes, loth-cat." He said, commandingly.

"Using compulsion on me now?" she gasped, looking at him and getting her hands free from his Force-hold, wrapping her arms around him, her nails raking on his large and sweaty back.

"Oh, Ben… fuck. Harder."

And he obeyed, taking her to a delicious climax as he moved into her deep and hard. He could feel her mind opening to him, and her pleasure entered his mind, making him lose his rhythm for a moment, the need to make her fully his taking over him.

"You're fucking delicious, love." He grunted, moving harder and faster, keeping his eyes on hers, opening his mind to her as she'd opened up to him; the act so intimate and powerful, the connection of bodies and souls alike, that had them both reaching a new high as they climaxed together, their minds so fully merged they were unable to tell which orgasm was whose.

* * *

Ben and Sara were eating their sandwiches in the Mirrorbright's kitchen – Ben shirtless, wearing just black pants and Sara in a white dress – when the ship's intercomm beeped.

"The Mirrorbright's synced to my commpad." Said Sara, pointing to the device near Ben.

He took her commpad in his hands and checked the number: "It's my father." And he answered the call. "Hey, dad."

"Can you two get your hands off of each other for a moment?" asked Han.

Sara chuckled, "Not really, Mr. Solo."

"We're already orbiting Lothal." Informed Han.

"We'll be leaving your hangar bay in a few hours." she replied.

"_Hours_?" exclaimed Han, "What…?"

But Sara clicked the off button in the commpad, interrupting him.

Ben chuckled, "And what will we do in those few hours?"

"Well, I need to shower. I can't go to Lothal and face everyone smelling of sex and with cum on my thighs."

Ben gulped and his eyes were fixed on her, their amber color darkening with renewed desire.

Sara got up from her chair, "I thought that, maybe, you'd like to help me?" she continued, playing all innocent. "Just to make sure I'm properly clean."

He stood up too, already feeling his dick hardening again.

* * *

**In the parking lot of the Base**

Leia watched the Falcon land, and waited for Han and Chewie to walk out of the old ship. Soon the man and the wookiee appeared and walked towards her. She hugged her husband and Chewie next.

"Where are Ben and Sara?" she asked, as they walked to the building.

"They'll be here in a few hours." Replied Han, walking with an arm around her shoulders.

"_Hours_? But aren't they in that ship?" she pointed to the dot in the sky that was the Eravana.

"Yep. But they're… busy." Replied Han, with a wink.

"Oh, I see." Murmured Leia, smiling knowingly.

* * *

**In the Mirrorbright's**** bathroom**

Sara took off her dress and walked into the shower stall, under the water spray. She began to clean herself with a soft sponge and a generous amount of a flowery smelling liquid soup.

Ben took off his pants and stood naked by the stall, watching her for a while; noticing how her blue hair got darker when soaked by the water, and loving the way she slowly ran the soapy sponge over her curves, teasing him.

Soon he was walking into the stall and taking the sponge from her hands. "I'll be washing you." His voice heavy with desire. He wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing their naked wet bodies together. He kissed her lips, touching his tongue to hers slowly as he ran the sponge over her skin again, cleaning up every curve of her body, making her tremble.

Sara washed him with her hands, touching her wet body to his, rubbing herself against him. She trailed kisses down his hard chest and, looking up into his eyes, fell onto her knees, kissing his upper thighs, teasing him. Then her lips closed around his hard dick and he groaned.

"Fuck, what a sight: you on your knees with my cock in your mouth." He fisted a hand on her wet hair and fucked her mouth, sensing how much she loved his domineering act. But soon he was pulling her away from him and making her stand up; he took her lips savagely, hoisting her up and pushing her against the wall of the shower stall, his hard dick easily finding its way into her pussy once more.

"I thought the whole point of showering was to get cum out of my thighs." Sara whispered, closing her eyes and moaning softly at the delicious feeling of his dick deep inside of her. "Not to give me more."

"I'll make sure not one drop drips out." He said as he got balls deep inside of her.

"Fuck." She gasped as he began to move inside of her, taking very little out, just pushing in, trying to get even deeper, making sure to hit all the right spots; she moaned loud, her nails digging into his shoulders.

"Show me how much you like this cock, loth-cat."

"Oh, fuck. Harder!"

And he feasted on her breasts, biting her pebbled and reddened nipples until he had her screaming and cumming, her pussy clamping on his dick too tightly for him to control his own climax. And he bit her neck as he spilled another load inside of her.

"I'm gonna keep my dick deep inside of you, until your pussy's absorbed all of my cum." He said, panting against her neck.

"If you do that, we won't be leaving this ship today; for I'll want more of you." She moved her hips but he gripped her ass tightly, making her stop.

He kissed her lips passionately, biting her bottom lip as he looked at her. "When the war is over, I want to keep you like this: naked, aroused and well-fucked for at least a week. You so fucking delicious, my imagination never did you justice." He took her lips again and she whimpered, circling her hips. "We'll finish this in your room. At the Base." He said and Sara moaned a complaint as he lowered her legs.

Ben held her against him under the water that still fell from the shower head, kissing her slowly. Then she unexpectedly chuckled, rubbing against him again, "It's dripping." She kissed his neck. "You either didn't leave your dick in long enough or… I'm completely full of cum."

He hissed, tightening his arms around her. "Damn, just the thought of you walking around with your pussy filled up with my cum is making me hard again." He kissed her violently, pushing her against the wall again. "I never thought I'd be able to fuck this much in one day, but you… just one look at you: so gorgeous and sexy, and all I want is to make you scream on my cock." and he fucked her until she'd orgasmed twice more.

* * *

It was two in the morning when they finally parked the Mirrorbright beside the Falcon and walked into the Base as silently as possible. Everybody was asleep, only the droids moved in the silent base.

They stopped in the corridor of their bedrooms and Sara opened her door. Ben was following her inside when she turned around to face him, a hand on his chest. "Where do you think you're going? This is my room."

He smirked, wrapping one arm around her waist and the other hand fisting on her hair. "I'm sleeping beside you, loth-cat. Every night from now on." He kissed her and walked into her room, pushing her against the wall.

"At least ask me if I want you here." she kept on playing. "Maybe I don't." She held in a moan as he teased her neck with his teeth.

"You're gonna keep on teasing me, loth-cat?" he whispered in her ear. "Fighting me?"

"Yes. Always." She gasped. "To remind you daily that you won't ever control me."

He held her face with one hand. "I can live with that." He said before kissing her passionately, making her whimper. And to his utter surprise, he was getting hard again, her defiance and the touch of her body against his making him need to pound into her, to see her completely lost in the pleasure he could give her.

They found their way to the bed and made quick work of getting rid of their clothes; when he entered her body once more, she winced and he stopped, sensing something was wrong.

"You're hurting." He said.

"No. Just a little sore." She moved her hips hesitantly, "But I like it." She gasped and arched. "Just go slow."

Despite her moans and demands of _harder and faster_, he moved carefully, more in than out, making sure to hit all of her spots at every thrust, bringing her to a series of climaxes that had her voice hoarse by the third orgasm.

He barely had any cum left to spill inside of her, so his orgasm was nearly a dry one – although just as pleasurable.

He lay beside her and pulled her close, sleep quickly claiming both of them, and they slept wrapped around each other.

* * *

**The next morning**

Ben woke up and found his arms full of a gorgeous woman. He smiled, pulling her closer, smelling her skin. _Sara_, he thought lovingly. _I can barely believe this_. He kissed her shoulder, waking her up slowly.

Sara sighed and thought she was dreaming at first; when she finally remembered all that had happened in the previous day, she smiled and turned around to lay her head on his broad chest, pleasurably sighing again.

"We should get up and grab some breakfast, loth-cat." He said. "I'm starving."

"I'm not sure I want to leave this room." She looked at his face. "You do realize your father must've told your mother about us and she certainly told my mother. So that means we'll have to face them and..."

"Tell them we'll be getting married." He finished.

"Yes. I wonder who'll be happier: your mother or mine."

He chuckled, "They were both rooting for it, you know? Your mother even gave me some tips on how I should approach you to make sure you'd admit your feelings for me."

"Wow. She did that? When?"

"The day I kissed you by Poe's x-wing."

She laughed, "Can't believe it. If arranged marriages were still a thing, they'd have certainly promised me to you."

Ben chuckled and put a hand under her chin, bringing her lips to his. "However, my mother was very concerned about what kind of grandchildren she'd have."

Sara laughed, getting serious in the next second, "I think she's right to worry though. To be honest I'm afraid to mother kids with Mandalorian and Skywalker blood."

Ben chuckled and touched her belly lovingly, his large hand almost covering all of her stomach. "You'll look so gorgeous pregnant with our kids."

"The way we have been going at it I better find some contraceptive method soon before it actually happens."

"You don't use any?"

"No."

"But you said you've had partners." He begrudgingly remembered.

"Condoms, Ben. You did used them in the past, didn't you?"

"Yep. Always. But it never crossed my mind to ask you for one."

"That's why I think finding a different thing will be better for us. I do enjoy having you cum inside of me..." she kissed him.

"We better get up before you have me doing that again."

Sara looked at him as if she liked that idea, so he jumped out of bed and got dressed.

* * *

**In the cafeteria**

"The Mirrorbright is parked by the Falcon." Said Han, sitting beside Leia at a table with Ezra and Sabine. "So they are here."

"I'm so glad that they've finally solved things between them." Said Leia.

"Wait, what?" asked Sabine.

"Ben and Sara have finally solved their, let's say, issues." Said Han. "I thought you had told them!" he said to Leia.

"I told them about what happened in Kashyyyk but didn't have the time to finish the story."

"For real?" Sabine looked at her friends.

"Yep. I heard more than enough of their reconciliation." Said Han. "If that wasn't fucking, one of them is certainly dead in your daughter's ship."

That made Sabine and Leia laugh; Ezra looked concerned though.

"Aren't you happy about this, love?" Sabine asked her husband.

"Yes, I am. I know Sara loves Ben."

"But?" asked Leia.

"I fear that such a union could call too much attention – unwanted dangerous attention."

The others understood what he meant and just nodded, worrying too.

* * *

A few minutes later, Ben and Sara walked into the cafeteria, hand-in-hand, all smiles.

"Hey, look who finally showed up!" exclaimed Poe, walking towards them: "So, you've survived!" he said to Ben, "Congratulations, man."

"Thanks." He mumbled a little shy for all the eyes turning their way.

"And you, you lucky girl!" Poe, hugged Sara. "I'm glad to see you didn't kill him, although he looks considerably worn out – if you know what I mean."

Sara rolled her eyes at her friend and pulled Ben away from him, towards their parents.

"I want details!" Poe shouted. "All the dirty details later in the lounge!"

The couple blushed as all sounds in the cafeteria stopped and everyone looked at them, but they kept on walking.

Sabine stood up and walked to Sara, hugging her tightly.

"Leia told us what happened in Kashyyyk. How are you, dear?" she touched Sara's face.

"I'm fine, mom. I was pretty shaken up, but Ben helped me." She glanced at him; Leia stood beside him, holding his arm, concern in her eyes. Han stood beside his wife.

Sabine stepped aside so that Ezra could hug Sara too.

"Did the wookiee hurt you?" he asked.

"No. Ben killed him before he could do me any harm. The serum had driven him mad, dad. I couldn't connect with him through the Force."

"I'm glad Ben was there to save you." Ezra turned to Ben and pulled him into a hug too. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Ben replied, looking a little disconcerted. "General Bridger, Sir." He said after the man let him go. "I've asked your daughter's hand in marriage."

Both pairs of parents stopped moving, surprised by that news.

"That was certainly fast." Said Han.

"That's great news." Said Ezra, a little concerned still.

"And what did you say, Sara?" asked Sabine, unsuccessfully trying to hide her enthusiasm.

"I said that I'll marry him." She smiled at Ben.

Leia and Sabine nearly squealed in happiness.

"If that's your wish, my dear, you two have my blessing." Said Ezra.

"And mine!" Added Sabine, hugging her daughter again.

"And ours." Said Leia, hugging Sara and Ben, before announcing to the whole cafeteria: "My son and Sara are getting married!"

And everybody cheered along.

"Not without a big ring on her finger he's not!" shouted Poe, walking towards them. "My friend deserves one and you can fucking afford it, Solo!"

"I'll soon have one, of course." Replied Ben, wanting to punch his friend for that embarrassment.

"That's not necessary." Said Sara.

"Of course it is!" shouted Ben, Poe and both their parents.

"Ok ok." Sara raised her hands in a sign of surrender.

"Sit, let's have breakfast. You must be starving." Said Leia.

"They sure must be." Mumbled Han. "The way they've been at it."

Sara blushed and looked at Ben, unable to stop the smile on her lips.

"After we're done eating, we must talk in my office." Said Ezra.

And everyone nodded, sensing that whatever they had to talk about was something serious.

* * *

Leia, Han, Sabine, Ben and Sara stood in Ezra's office waiting for him to begin the meeting.

"We have a huge problem in our hands." Said Ezra.

"Another one?" said Han.

"Palpatine will not rest until he gets what he wants: Sara."

"I know that, dad." Sara replied, feeling Ben's hand on her back. "We all know that already. He's not getting me without a fight."

"Have you figured out how he's back?" asked Ben.

"Yes. Armitage Hux is the one responsible for this mess." Ezra said, looking at Ben. "He envied you for your powers, so he went after a way to have powers himself. He stumbled upon an old Sith Temple where he was able to summon Palpatine's spirit. With a holocrom, plus a Force extracting machine invented by Palpatine himself ages ago during the Clone Wars, and an old list retrieved from the Jedi archives in Coruscant, Hux was able to locate Force-sensitive adults and use them to power up Palpatine's spirit, making him corporeal once more."

"Force extracting machine… that sounds horrible." Whispered Sara. "So… evil."

"It sounds like something Hux would do." Added Ben.

"Unfortunately we can't save those he has already extracted their Force from." Said Ezra.

"And that's why he wants Sara: for her powers." Said Sabine. "And her connection to the Mortis Gods."

Ben clenched his fists. "He's not getting her."

"We all agree on that, Ben." Said Ezra. "But where will we hide her? We can't take her to fight him."

"She could stay here, in Lothal, and we'll go after Palpatine." added Han.

"But that opens another can of problems: how do we destroy him without her?" asked Ben.

"Well, _she_ is here." interrupted Sara angrily, "And _she_ doesn't like to have her decisions made for her." She looked at both men, her father and Ben, "I will fight him too."

"And I'll ask Luke to come help us." Said Leia.

"That's a great idea." Said Sabine.

Ben turned to face Sara, holding her arms, "Your father, uncle Luke and I can beat him. There's no need to risk you."

"I don't care what you think you can do, I won't stay behind! Whenever you face him, we'll face him together." Her anger increasing.

"If he gets you…" started Ben.

"I'm not some fragile damsel in distress that needs saving from a Prince, Ben Solo!" She shouted. "I'm a fighter, and I will fight! We've talked about this. If you can't accept that I'm a fighter, we're off to a bad start!" she pushed him back a little with both hands.

Everyone fell silent, looking at the young couple. Sara continued: "I'm going with you to the fight. That's decided."

Sabine smiled at her daughter but the others looked fearful and Ezra was also angry.

"Now, if you'll excuse me." Finished Sara, walking to the door and leaving the room.

Ben just looked at her go.

"Get used to it, Ben." Said Sabine. "Sara's never accepted being told what to do; there had to be strong compelling reasons for her not to do something once she wanted to do it."

"Lots of broken limbs when she was growing up." Added Ezra, frustration heavy in his voice.

"Hardly ever hers." Finished Sabine.

Ben just nodded.

* * *

Sara walked into the lounge room and Poe and Finn were on her immediately.

"Details! All of them!" said Poe.

"How did you leave Lothal hating the man's guts and came back engaged to him?" asked Finn.

"Come on. Start talking." Added Poe.

They pulled her towards the couch, making her sit between them.

"Well, there were many things in this trip that helped me realize I didn't actually hate Ben that much." Sara started, remembering his presence, the shirtless fight against the pirates, the mocoa and the full letter. "Mainly, we talked a lot, he saved my life and we fucked. A lot."

"Details. Sara." Repeated Poe. "How good, big, and skilled is he? How long does he last? How many orgasms? Details!"

"I'm not telling you any of those things. Those are private!" she laughed, blushing.

"I guess _'a lot' _answers all of your questions, Poe." Said Ben from the door, arms crossed over his chest, a smile on his lips – seeing Sara laughing always had that effect on him.

"Yeah. '_A lot'_ does cover it all." She added, blushing redder but looking at him with a lingering trace of anger.

Ben walked to her and kneeled between her legs, holding her hands. "I'm sorry I treated you like you were someone to be protected before. I know you're a fighter, and I respect you for it."

Sara smiled at him, "Get up from the floor." He stood up and so did she, standing really close to him. Ben wrapped his arms around her and a need rose inside of her, the need to have him again.

She got on her tiptoes and kissed his lips, her hands running down his chest, as his arms tightened around her. The kiss turned heated quickly, their tongues meeting passionately, hands touching everywhere, putting up a show for the couple on the couch.

"Get a room!" exclaimed Han from the corridor.

And they stopped kissing.

"No!" exclaimed Poe and Finn. "Keep tongue fucking right there. You're a sexy pair of breeders." Added Poe.

Sara laughed at his language and looked at Ben. "Don't you ever try to stop me from fighting, Ben. You'd be disrespecting me and breaking my trust."

"I know. I won't." he kissed her softly. "I promise." He looked at the couple on the couch – both men looked up at him and Sara expectantly.

"Go on." Said Finn. "Pretend we're not here."

Poe nodded vigorously.

Sara chuckled and rolled her eyes at her friends' lustful gazes. She looked at Ben again and another heated kiss ensued.


	9. The Sex

**Note: **this is just a smutty and fluffy chapter to help heal all of our souls – for we know we all need some love. No major plot development here, just love and orgasms.

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Two weeks had passed since they'd returned to Lothal, and during the day, Sara and Ben were seen together all around the Base: training, talking, working on the ships – the love between them was obvious and more they once a day they heard someone telling them to go find a room!

* * *

"You're never going to beat me, Ben." Bragged Sara as they walked down the corridor to their room one night after an intense sword-training session.

"I can live with that." He shrugged. "For I already know a way to have you on the floor that's very effective." And he proved his point by pushing her against the wall of the corridor by their room's door, kissing her passionately.

Sara wrapped her legs around his waist.

"That first night you brought me here, and you bumped into me, I wanted to do this." He pushed her harder against the wall.

"I'd have been so mad at you." She replied, laughing.

"I know."

"I'd have punched you." she bit his bottom lip teasingly.

"Just punched me? You'd have sent me to the infirmary half-dead, love."

She laughed more. "True." And kissed him again.

Ben carried her into their room, pushing her against the wall in there as well, pulling her sweaty shirt off of her and unclasping her bra. He pinched her nipples to make them harden and covered one with his mouth, biting and suckling as she moaned, her hands in his hair and shoulder. He bit her skin up to her mouth and kissed her lips again, whispering: "I bet you're already dripping for me." One hand between her legs, palming her pussy over her pants.

"Nah. I don't think so. You'll have to work harder." she teased.

"Really?" he smiled, getting her legs down from his waist and taking his own shirt off.

Sara bit her lip and caressed his naked, sweaty broad chest – of course she was already wet for him. She hooked her hands in the waistband of his sweatpants but he stopped her from pulling them down.

"No, you said I have to work harder to get you dripping for me, so now I'll try my best to get you ready." He carried her to the bathroom and turned on the shower head, removing his clothes and then hers.

"Get under the water." He said. "I'll help you shower."

"I hope you're better at this than at swordfighting." She teased, walking into the shower stall.

He followed her, grabbing a bar of soap and beginning to run it over her skin, starting on her neck and shoulders, going down her arms, back up to her shoulders and over her breasts, washing both her nipples thoroughly; her gasps and soft moans filling up the small space as fast as the stall glass fogged. "Let me see if they're clean enough to my taste." He said before lowering his mouth to one very hard peak and suckling on it. Sara moaned loud and he smiled, sensing her need in her mind. "I'm definitely dripping now." She whispered.

"No. I don't think so." He replied. "But let me check." He lowered one hand to her pussy and caressed her, one finger shallowly penetrating her. He had to control his desire to just fuck her right then and there, he wanted to have her needing him. "Not wet enough." He declared.

And Sara realized what he was doing; "If you think you'll make me beg for it, you're very delusional."

"Is that a challenge, loth-cat?" He stopped washing her body to wash his own for a moment. "Because if it is: challenge accepted." He washed her thighs and her ass, bringing her body against his, letting her feel his hard dick against her stomach.

"I'm not begging." She said assertively.

"We'll see." He let go of the soap and wrapped his arms around her, touching her thighs, her breasts, his lips on hers – biting, kissing, licking. She was touching him with need, pulling him hard against her body, rubbing against him almost desperately.

"Go to bed," he suddenly ordered, turning off the water. "Lie down in the middle of the bed and wait for me."

Sara looked up at him and she had challenge written all over her face – even though her eyes were heavy with desire, she wasn't just going to make it easy for him. So she slowly did as he had asked, walking to the bed, "I thought you'd make me beg." She said, lying down in the middle of the bed.

"And I will." He followed her and kneeled on the bed, between her legs; he leaned over her, skin still warm from the shower, and kissed her neck, going down to her breasts, making her arch as he played with her nipples.

"This is not enough to make me beg for your dick." She softly moaned.

"Oh, I know." And he kissed down her stomach, his hands on her hips as he licked her inner thighs. She trembled in need, but said nothing. He penetrated two fingers inside of her, with no warning, and she gasped, spreading her legs even further. His mouth descended upon her clit and she grabbed his hair, moaning and moving her hips against his face.

"Needing something?" He asked, fingers curling to play with a spot inside of her that he knew drove her mad with desire.

Sara took a deep breath before speaking: "This is good, but ain't begging material."

"Ok." He took his fingers out of her and trailed kisses from her navel to her ear, whispering: "You asked for it, loth-cat." And he got balls deep into her, stopping as deep as possible, groaning a little. "Such a tight wet pussy, swallowing my dick."

Sara bit her bottom lip, arching a little, needing him to move but too proud to say anything.

"But I guess you don't want it." He whispered, taking his cock out, only to tease her opening with the large head; she gasped at the emptiness, her channel clenching, wanting him inside again.

He put two fingers in her pussy again and groaned, "Your lips may deny it, love, but this: you're clamping on my fingers." He positioned his dick on her entrance and fully entered her again, not moving, just enjoying her channel massaging his dick. "Fuck, you're so fucking delicious." He circled his hips and removed his dick.

Sara moaned at the emptiness again, gasping as he put three fingers inside of her.

"If you cum you lose too." He warned.

"What? No! The challenge was to make me beg!" She shouted.

"If you cum on my fingers it's proof that you needed my dick badly, love. So you lose."

Sara took another deep breath, trying to control her need. But Ben could see she was losing control, and decided to play very dirty. He took her lips as he lodged the head of his dick on her entrance, not penetrating, not moving, just teasing her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him in.

"Hey. That's cheating!" He said, taking his dick out again. He put his thumb over her parted lips, watching her lick, bite and suck on the digit. "So fucking sexy." He slowly penetrated her pussy again, only to get it out in the next second.

"Oh, no." she moaned.

"Did you say anything, loth-cat?" he played with her breasts again, biting her nipples.

"No!" she exclaimed, her hands grabbing onto the sheets in the bed, she mewled, needing him to pound into her but too proud to say it.

"Do you have something to tell me, love?" He asked again, looking into her flushed face. "What a sight you make right now, Sara: totally lost in your need for my cock. Say it, loth-cat." He put his dick inside of her pussy again, going all the way in, and getting it out just as slowly. "Beg for my cock and I'll be making you cum so hard. Don't you want it?" he teased her entrance again. "Oh, fuck, you're really dripping now." He looked at her juices spilling from her swollen pussy.

Sara bit her lip, her chest moving up and down fast, her skin hypersensitive already; if he thrust into her again she wasn't sure she could stop her orgasm. He was dominating her body, her pleasure, and she loved it. She rubbed her legs on both his sides, trying to distract herself a little from the aching need between her legs, but Ben didn't let her think much longer, he opened her legs wide and penetrated her, balls deep.

Sara shouted his name and trembled, trying to stop the climax that wanted to begin, but he pounded into her hard three times and she lost it: moaning loud as waves of pleasure took over her.

"That's it, loth-cat. Now say it, beg for it, come on." He put his dick as deep as possible and stopped, his eyes closing at the sensation of her pussy swelling around his dick and clenching deliciously.

She yanked on his hair and kissed his lips passionately, before finally saying: "Fuck me. Get your dick deep inside of me, make me scream, and fill me up with your cum."

He smiled smugly, "Get on all fours for me."

She obeyed.

And he got behind her, entering her dripping pussy again and riding her until neither of them could cum again.

* * *

Ben woke up in the middle of the night; the bright moonlight entering the room through the open window shed some light on the beautiful woman beside him. Sara lay asleep naked on her stomach, her long blue curls a mess sprawled all over the pillow. He smiled at the sight of his love marks all over her shoulders and waist; he kissed her shoulder, whispering: "Sometimes I can't believe you're finally mine, loth-cat." He pulled her closer, loving how she melted against him, sighing pleasurably in her sleep; he put one leg between hers and kissed her neck before falling asleep again.


	10. The Friends & The Wedding

**Two months later**

The Resistance was trying its best to locate the whereabouts of Palpatine, but no luck so far. Rumors about him finding another entrance to the Gateway had Ezra worried. At least no one had found the Resistance in Lothal either, so they were, temporarily, safe.

* * *

After lunch one day, Ezra stopped by the training room to talk to his daughter and Ben. He watched as they finished their swordfight, proudly noticing that Sara was much faster than Ben, she could hit him three to four times more than he hit her.

"Come on, your highness," she teased him. "How come you can't beat me?"

"You do realize that once we're married you'll have that tittle too, don't you?"

His comment made her hesitate a second and Ben was able to disarm her and declare himself the winner for once.

"Hey! You cheated!" she complained, punching his shoulder.

"So what? I won." He wrapped his arms around her.

"No." She kissed his lips, "I want a rematch."

"Fine." He kissed her again but stopped when he saw Ezra by the door.

"General Bridger, Sir." Ben greeted respectfully, unwrapping his arms from around the man's daughter.

"Hi, dad. Did you see it? His royal ass here can't beat me without cheating!"

Ben narrowed his eyes at her, promising some punishment in the future.

"I did see that." Said Ezra, his heart warming for seeing his daughter so happy. "But you should cut him some slack, dear, you're far superiorly skilled than him."

"True." Ben conceded. "You're so fast; your Force-jump is like the Jedi's from history books, it's really incredible, loth-cat."

"I can teach you how to do that." Sara offered.

"That's a good idea." Said Ezra, his voice getting a serious tone. "But I need to discuss something with you two now."

"You found Palpatine?" asked Ben, suddenly worried.

"No. But we've located the Supremacy; the plan is to attack the First Order fleet in three days." Ezra looked at Sara with concern. "We hope this is not a trap to get you. We haven't been able to find them for weeks and suddenly they revealed their position. I must say: I'm worried, Sara."

"I'm not staying behind." She said, anger rising inside of her. "We've already discussed this."

Ben put one hand on her lower back, looking at Ezra's concerned expression and feeling fear take over his heart.

"What's the plan?" asked Sara, as both men remained quiet.

Ezra sighed before replying: "We'll destroy the fleet and, if Palpatine is there, we'll fight our way to him; however, my guess is he'll come to us the moment he sees you're there, Sara." He paused, and Sara crossed her arms over her chest, daring him to tell her to stay on Lothal. Ezra looked at Ben next. "He'll probably try to capture us alive as well, Ben. If he can have the three of us, he'll be indestructible."

Ben just nodded, too worried about Sara to say anything then. He didn't want her to go, but he had to respect her warrior nature.

"We'll take our ships to the Eravana and Han will take us as close as possible to the Supremacy." Continued Ezra. "Before we launch the attack, we'll discuss the final details."

"We'll be ready, dad."

Ezra frowned, frustration clear in his voice: "I know you will." He looked at Sara for a while longer before giving her one more message: "You should visit the Temple later today, a friend is requesting your presence."

"I will." Sara replied, having learned already that when she was called to the Temple, she had to go.

* * *

Sara walked into the Gateway and waited for her eyes to get used to the dark space. Then she followed the glowing silver path to a mirror. An image formed and she smiled, the same vision from before: the boy and the girl running by the pond, Ben calling them, Sara with a baby in her arms and the smell of jogan blossoms in the breeze. She cherished that, dreamed of that: a peaceful and simple life with a large family and a man she loved and that loved her back.

"Sara. Long time no see."

Sara turned to face the owner of that soft feminine voice, a friend she hadn't seen in a long time: "Ahsoka! You called me here?"

"Yes, my dear." She walked to Sara and hugged her, the pretty bird that always flew around Ahsoka landed on Sara's shoulder.

"Hello, Morai." Said Sara, petting her head, the little bird chirped joyfully and closed her eyes, resting on Sara's shoulder. "Why did you call me, 'Soka?"

"The future looks… troubled." She seemed to speak with caution.

"What's wrong?"

"There are choices to be made. I can't tell you which path to choose, but I've been allowed to warn you."

Sara looked at the mirror beside her again, the vision replaying. "How do I ensure that this happens?" she asked Ahsoka, pointing to the mirror. "I want that future."

"Many paths lead to that." Ahsoka smiled, looking at the mirror. "The most important choice to ensure that happens you've already made: to allow yourself to love Ben."

Sara smiled, "What are you worried about, then? If that's my future, I'm more than satisfied."

"You must leave." Ahsoka's voice suddenly became heavy and serious.

"Leave? Where to?" Sara was taken by surprise.

"That's for you to decide. You can't face Palpatine anytime in the near future."

Sara hesitated, "But I can't go and leave my family and friends to fight Palpatine alone. Can you assure me they'll be strong enough to defeat him on their own?"

Ahsoka didn't reply.

"So I'm not leaving. Also, what if I leave and the kids never happen? I want them, I already love them." She looked in the mirror at the boy and the girl running and laughing.

Ahsoka's serious expression melted into a softer one, she smiled sweetly and moved her hand in the air in a semicircle; Sara waited for something to happen and soon the sound of two heartbeats reverberated in the dark space.

"The twins from your vision, they're already on their way." Ahsoka spoke softly.

It took Sara a few seconds to understand what Ahsoka was saying. She gasped once it hit her: "I'm pregnant?" she whispered, putting both hands on her own belly.

"Yes." Ahsoka paused. "And that's why you can't get anywhere near Palpatine now. Your value to him has just tripled – if he ever finds out about the babies, he'll burn the galaxy down to have you; you're the next Guardian of the Gateway and now you carry the heirs of two powerful Force-sensitive bloodlines."

Sara frowned, worry growing even further inside of her; she touched her flat belly and looked in the mirror again. "But I don't want to leave my family and Ben. I want to fight beside them."

"There are many paths, Sara, for you have free will – the Force is commanding but not authoritarian." Ahsoka paused. "Not even I know all that is to come, but I ask you, as a friend: leave. There's a chance that Palpatine get you, and you can't let that happen. There won't be a future for anyone if that happens; not for you, not for your kids, not even for the galaxy."

"I won't let he get me. My dad said we were to leave in three days-"

"Tomorrow; you'll be leaving for the Supremacy tomorrow."

"Right. Time goes differently here." Sara thought about what to do. "So you're asking me to leave today?"

"Yes."

Sara paced in front of the mirror, her instincts kicking in, she already knew where she could go to hide from both the Resistance and the First Order. But a stronger part of her was saying she couldn't leave, she had to protect her family, Lothal and the Temple.

"I think I know what to do." She said. "Thank you for calling me here, 'Soka."

"I'm looking forward to seeing you again, Sara Brigder, future Guardian of the Gateway, and my dear friend." She bowed slightly. "Choose wisely."

Sara bowed too and walked out of the Gateway.

* * *

Ben rode the speeder bike in the direction that Ezra had told him the entrance of Temple was. Sara had been gone for nearly 24 hours, no one was worried, but he was – he had no idea what was in there.

From afar he could see Sara moving her hands in front of a stone wall at the foot of a mountain; she seemed to be talking to the wall as well. He stopped the speeder far enough that she wouldn't be able to hear it, and watched her.

* * *

Sara lifted her hand to the Son to close the Gateway and the painting smiled at her, as usual. "I see now why I've always liked you, you're in Ben, the conflicted part of his Force-energy: it's your presence." The painting nodded and pointed at her. "In me too? I can see that. Do you know what I've decided to do?" he nodded, his smiling diminishing but not vanishing. She smiled back and touched her hand to his, closing the Gateway.

She looked at the beautiful painting once more and turned around, seeing Ben on a speeder bike looking at her. She waved at him and he drove towards her, jumping from the bike and hugging her tight. "I was so worried, loth-cat." He kissed her.

"I was just inside. Time goes differently in the Temple."

"So this is the door." Ben looked up at the Mortis painting. "They are the Father, the Son and the Daughter."

"Yep. This is, or will be, my responsibility in the future. You'll have to help me protect this place."

"And I will, love " he pulled her tight into his arms, kissing her lips passionately.

"I want to show you something." She said, pulling him towards the speeder, "Come on."

"That's strange." Ben whispered, making Sara stop and looking at the painting. "I'm certain he wasn't smiling before."

"Oh, the Son does that. We like each other, so he's happy when he sees me happy." She winked at the Son and pulled Ben to the speeder again. "Come on, I'll drive." And he sat behind her.

* * *

Ben sat very close to Sara's back, holding on to her, his nose in her neck, as she drove fast to the south. A couple of minutes later she stopped at a beautiful prairie, the evening sun filling the sky with orange and pink hues, some ducks swam in a pond, adding to that place's peaceful feel.

"This is where we'll live." She said. "My dad bought the land and gave it to me years ago. What do you think?"

"I love it. It's beautiful here." He wrapped his arms around her again and kissed her. "You're beautiful." He whispered lovingly between kisses.

Sara pushed him to the ground and sat on top of him, pulling his shirt off of him and kissing down his chest.

"Sara." He gasped.

"I want you. Right now." She caressed his hardening dick over his pants and felt his fingers pulling her hair tie, letting her hair loose from the ponytail. "Make love to me in our home for the first time."

He grabbed her hair and her waist and rolled them over, making her lie on her back on the soft grass. She looked up at him with love and adoration, trying to pull to the back of her mind the memory of Ahsoka telling her she should leave before the sun rose the next morning.

Ben pulled her pants down her legs and lowered his own just enough to get his dick out. Sara wrapped her legs around his waist and he kissed her lips, owning every whimper and gasp that left them when he started to enter her body. "You're fucking gorgeous, loth-cat." He groaned, setting a deep and slow rhythm, watching every reaction of her body, every feeling he could sense through their connection. Her nails raked his back and she arched, crossing her legs on his lower back and pulling him in deeper, moaning his name. He bit her exposed neck and pounded into her, groaning as her pussy clamped on his dick when she orgasmed under him. He thrust into her a few more times and came deep inside, emptying his balls in her clenching channel.

He kissed her lips, some strange images entering his mind: two kids running around the nearby pond, a small pretty house to the left of where they were lying on the grass. And he heard a woman's voice: "You must leave." and then Sara's voice: "So you're asking me to leave today?"

He looked at Sara's peaceful face. "No. You're not leaving, loth-cat."

She opened her eyes and looked up at him in confusion. "What are you talking about, Ben?"

"I saw the kids running around this pond. And the house. And I heard a woman talking about you leaving."

"Did you hear why?" She asked, not denying what he said he'd heard. Ben shook his head. Sara sighed, "I'd rather talk about this with my clothes on."

Ben rolled off of her and they got up and dressed. As Sara was finishing tying up her boots, Ben sat beside her on the grass, shirt still half-unbuttoned. "Why would you have to leave today?"

"Because I'm pregnant."

Ben stared at her, unmoving, looking into her eyes, wondering if he had heard her correctly.

"Say something, Ben." Sara whispered, feeling nervous.

He put both hands on her face, bringing their lips together, sweetly trailing kisses all over her face.

"You're not leaving, loth-cat." He said. "We're marrying tonight, and I'll protect you."

"First, I've never said I'd leave. Ahsoka said I have to, for Palpatine can't get to me now. He can't get our kids."

"Kids? Plural? The two kids from the vision?" he realized.

"Yes. Twins."

He stopped moving again.

"And second: don't even start any stupid protection speech. We've already talked about that! I'm not a fragile princess needing a savior!" she paused and felt a little nervous about Ben's silence. "Are you happy about this?" she asked.

"_Happy_?" He chuckled. "I'm scared shitless! But I don't think happy covers how I'm feeling. I'm more than happy!" He kissed her lovingly. "And you're not leaving!"

"No. I'm staying right here, beside you. And we'll protect ourselves and our kids together." It was her turn to hold his face. "Together, did you hear me? You're not locking me in a tower and running towards danger alone."

He pressed his forehead to hers. "You're going to be the death of me, loth-cat. You're asking me to let you fight while…" he touched her flat stomach. "Pregnant." He breathed the word, cherishing it.

"_Let_ me? Are we really discussing that again?"

"No, Sara. I know…" He looked deeply concerned about what he was accepting but he nodded. "There will be no way to stop you, so I'd rather agree to it than fight you all the time."

She smiled sweetly, "See, we're not even married and you're already a better husband to me than your father is to your mother."

He laughed, before continuing: "We should marry at the Temple."

"That's a very good idea, Ben."

"So let's go." He jumped to his feet.

"What? Now?" she exclaimed while getting up.

"Right this moment." He pulled her into his arms for another kiss. "We're marrying right now."

Sara laughed in pure joy and let Ben take her to the speeder bike and back to the Gateway.

* * *

They stopped in front of the painting.

"We want to marry with you as our witnesses." Said Sara to the Mortis Gods.

The gods smiled but as Sara walked forward to open the Temple, the Daughter closed her always-opened hand and pointed at Ben.

"I believe she wants you to open it." Said Sara, sounding a little surprised.

"How do I do it?" he took a step forward.

Sara guided him and the portal opened. She walked through the circular opening marked by the running wolves and Ben followed.

* * *

The beauty, peacefulness, and infinity of the Temple made Ben stop as soon as he'd walked in.

"Wow." He gasped. "This is incredible."

"Yes. Welcome to the Gateway. Or the World Between Worlds. My responsibility."

"Our responsibility." Ben added, walking to Sara and wrapping his arms around her. She smiled at him and they shared a kiss.

"Now what?" he spoke softly.

"We wait. The path will guide us to where we should go. Just focus on what we want."

"I want to marry you." He tightened his arms around her.

She smiled and suddenly the path glowed brighter, guiding them to one of the many large mirrors there.

"Let's go." She took his hand and walked to the glowing mirror, "Ready for this?"

"Yes."

And she walked through the mirror, Ben following her. When they opened their eyes they found themselves in a beautiful place, it was a shore or maybe an island, thye could smell the freshness of the sea and hear the sound of a waterfall running down the side of a tall mountain and flowing into the sea.

"Where are we?" asked Ben, holding Sara's hand a little too tight.

"Mortis." She whispered in return. "We are in Mortis, the house of the Gods."

"Right you are, my sweetie." Said a man walking towards them. He seemed to have appeared out of thin air for they never saw him coming, his red eyes looked at Sara with some softness, making him seem amicable – as much as he terrifying looks allowed.

Sara smiled and let go of Ben's hand walking to the Son and hugging him.

Ben didn't like the way the man wrapped his arms around Sara and held her against him for quite a while.

"It's so good to meet you." Said Sara with a sweet smile, after the long hug.

Ben walked towards them and put an arm around Sara's waist. The Son still had his hands on her shoulders and looked at her with a spark in his red eyes. Slowly he let Sara's shoulders go and looked at Ben, and interest caused his eyes to shine again, "And you are Ben Solo. Former Kylo Ren." He closed the space between them and pulled Ben into a hug. "Your powers and ability to control the dark side of your soul – using them to fool Snoke and Palpatine is something I'll forever envy!" his voice was filled with admiration; he stopped the hug to look at Ben's eyes. "Don't be jealous. I can't have her to myself. If I could… you wouldn't be here anymore – you wouldn't be anywhere anymore. I'd erase your existence and have Sara all to myself." He sighed heavily. "But I can't, so you better be respectful and loyal to her."

"Stop threatening our guests, Brother." They heard a sweet feminine voice right beside them.

"Daughter." Whispered Sara in awe, noticing how the long green hair flowed behind the beautiful feminine figure and her green eyes shone like the waters of a clean lake under the sun. "You're so beautiful."

"Thank you, my dear." She hugged Sara. "Dont mind my brother's manners, Ben." she hugged him too. "Now, the reason you're here."

"To be married." continued the Son.

"We'll preside your ceremony, if that's good for you." Finished Daughter.

"Good? That's an honor!" exclaimed Sara.

The Mortis siblings shared a smile, standing side-by-side, the son in front of Ben and the Daughter in front of Sara.

Ben held Sara's hand and they listened to the Gods:

"Before us stand two souls asking to be united, to be recognized as one in the Force." began the Daughter.

"Our words are meaningless, though, if you do not carry in your hearts and souls respect and love for each other." Added the Son. "Do you love this woman?" he asked Ben.

"With all my heart." Confirmed Ben.

"Do you love this man?" the Daughter asked Sara.

"Yes. Completely – although he drives me crazy sometimes."

"Don't they all, my dear?" chuckled the Daughter. "We listened to your wish of unification." She stopped in front of them and put one hand on Ben's shoulder and the other on Sara's, while the Son walked behind them and did the same, "And we approve of it."

"May you learn together the value of such a connection, the gift of love and trust is not to be taken lightly." The Son paused, making them pay close attention on the moment. "Do you understand?"

"Yes." Both answered.

"You may kiss the bride." finished the Son.

Ben pulled Sara to him and looked into her blue eyes – sparkling from the tears that filled them.

"I love you, loth-cat."

"And I love you, Ben."

And they shared a long and sweet kiss, feeling their energies connect and their feelings mixed, becoming impossible to say who was feeling what; nothing but love and happiness surrounded them.

* * *

They arrived back on the base just in time for dinner and walked into the refectory, going straight towards their parents's table, sitting in front of Leia.

"Finally!" exclaimed Han, from her right. "I was about to send a search party after you two but I've decided to spare them the sight of your naked asses."

"You did well, Mr. Solo. But they'd see only your son's ass for mine was…"

"Ok. That's enough." Leia interrupted the amicable teasing.

"Is everything ok, Sara?" asked Ezra.

"Yes. I'd like to speak to the four of you after dinner."

Leia, Han, Sabine and Ezra nodded and they resumed eating.

Ben and Sara got themselves a plate and some food and ate as well.

* * *

The six of them walked into Leia's office and closed the door.

"What did Ahsoka want with you, Sara?" Asked Ezra, a little concerned.

"She wanted me to leave Lothal. She said I shouldn't stay here for I can't fall into Palpatine's hands."

"But that's obvious." Said Han. "No one is giving you to him, there's no need for you to leave."

"Yes. I know. And I have no intention on going anywhere. I'm staying here and fighting alongside my family and friends. If he wants me, he'll have to fight us all to get me."

Ben looked nervous, staring at Sara, waiting for her to keep speaking, but she didn't.

"What is it, Ben?" Asked Leia, noticing his troubled expression.

Ben looked from his mother to Sara as if asking her to continue talking. She seemed to not understand what he meant at first, then she exclaimed:

"Oh, right! Also, we'd like to let you know we've got married."

"What?" asked three of them.

Sabine looked at her husband. "Did you know about this?"

"No. But the Gateway called Sara. I imagine you married there."

"Yes." Said Sara. "The Mortis Gods gave their blessing and presided the ceremony."

"Couldn't you have waited?" asked Leia. "I'd love to throw you a party and…"

"No." replied Ben, getting closer to Sara and holding her hand. "Because we don't know how long it'll take us to defeat Palpatine and the First Order, and I don't want my kids being born bastards."

Their parents stared at them, unmoving, trying to understand if they had heard what they thought they had heard.

"Sara." Spoke Sabine. "Are you pregnant, dear?"

"Yes, mom. Twins. A boy and a girl."

It took two seconds for them all to realize what was happening and then the room exploded in shouts of happiness, tears and hugs.


	11. The Betrayal

Sara visited the meddroid to check on the babies and all was fine. She was 10 weeks long already and the droid only asked her to avoid picking up heavy weights, but her training in general didn't have to change for she was in excellent physical condition.

However, whenever she wanted to train harder, Ben wouldn't let her – the moment she started to pant and sweat he was on her, making her stop or if they were training he'd refuse to keep training with her – something that enraged her and granted him a few bruises as she kept on hitting him with the wooden sword even though he'd stopped fighting.

"Come on, fight back!" she growled as she punched him.

"No. You're already tired, Sara. Don't make me restrain you!"

"I'd like to see you try!" she was furious and wouldn't admit he was right: she was really tired.

Ben avoided one of her punches and leaned forward, quickly getting under her arm, both hands on her waist, and throwing her over his shoulder, being careful that her lower belly wasn't against his shoulder.

"Do not electrocute me!" he shouted, sensing she was planning exactly that. "I don't want to drop you!"

Sara kicked her legs and punched his back again. "I'm not sick and I'm not a child! Put me down!"

"Not gonna happen." He said as he walked out of the gym and Sara saw them passing by some Resistance members in the corridor.

"Someone stop this Neanderthal, please!" she shouted, making them laugh.

Ben chuckled and she gave up, feeling truly too tired to keep on fighting him.

* * *

**Two weeks later**

The attack on the Supremacy was cancelled, the Resistance's informant had been caught and executed, and the First Order moved all their ships away from their previous location.

"Their caution only proves to us that they must have Palpatine on board, and he's not as strong as he wishes he were – otherwise why wouldn't he face us?" said Ezra, looking at the others in the Command Center.

"True." Agreed Leia. "We must find them again and strike as soon as possible."

"Do we have at least an idea of where they've gone to?" asked Sara.

"The informant's last message mentioned some suspicious activity on Endor." Said Sabine. "Maybe we should start there."

"I can go." Offered Ben. "I've already been there. I can spend a few days and try to find more information."

"You just want to steal a TIE fighter." Said Han, understanding his son's motives.

"Well, that could be one of the reasons." Admitted Ben, with a smile.

"An Imperial TIE?" asked Sara, impressed. "I'd love to see one! I'm going with you!"

Ben grimaced, thinking of complaining, but Sara cut him off:

"Don't even start! I'm not sick, Ben; the babies are doing fine. I'm going!"

"All right!" he said, pulling her into a hug.

Ezra frowned and shook his head imperceptibly, not liking that Ben wasn't able to stop Sara from running into danger.

* * *

Sara and Ben stocked the Mirrorbright with provisions and set course to Endor, entering hyperspace and enjoying the quietness.

"We'll be there in about four hours." Said Sara, unbuckling her seat belt. "I can't wait to see the TIE you promised!"

Ben looked at her with a silly smile.

"What?" she asked.

"I can't believe we're here, together and no carbonite has been used so far."

Sara laughed. "Well, that may still happen if you annoy me enough." She stood up from her seat and sat on his lap, straddling his legs, her mid-length dress making it easy for his hands to caress her skin. "If I recall correctly, we were once interrupted while making out in this cockpit." She murmured over his lips, her tongue teasing him. "I think we should finished what we started."

He quickly unfastened his seatbelt and grabbed her thighs, running his hands to her butt and pulling her down on his quickly-hardening dick.

Sara pulled his shirt off of him and slowly unbuttoned the many buttons of her dress, all the while looking into his eyes. He tried to help her but she slapped his hands away, saying: "This is my show. You just watch."

He smirked and ran his hands down her curves, grabbing her butt again. She opened just enough buttons to allow her breasts to pop out.

"No bra." He whispered with a smile, wasting no time and nuzzling one breast, pulling one nipple into his mouth, making her gasp.

"No panties either." She whispered, touching his strong shoulders, loving to feel all those muscles under her.

Ben quickly moved his hands to make sure that was true and groaned once he realized it was. He changed his attention to her other breast, working both her nipples to hard points with his tongue and teeth. Sara was softly moaning and circling her hips, needing some friction between her legs. He had a hand down there in no time, palming her pussy and penetrating two fingers into her. She tried to ride his fingers but he stopped her. "Now, this is my show." He said with a sexy smirk.

"You're so mean, almost evil."

"It runs in the family." He winked at her, making a quick job of opening his fly and pulling his dick out. "And you love it." He impaled her on his cock all the way and she arched, shouting his name, her hands on his shoulder and hair. "Now, you can ride me." He ordered.

Sara shivered. "What if now I don't want to?" she teased, looking into his eyes with a glint of challenge of hers.

Ben held her waist and moved her up and down on his lap, making her moan loudly, banishing any coherent thought from her mind. His mouth was on her nipples again, licking and biting one then the other as he made her ride him.

It didn't take long for her to be moving on her own, circling her hips and prolonging their pleasure.

"Fucking half-dressed, walking around with no panties." He groaned as he watched her moving on his lap, breasts bouncing near his face, her gorgeous blue hair cascading down her shoulders, covering sensually the curve of her breasts. "Couldn't wait to get my dick in that pussy."

"Fuck, no!" she moaned. "I couldn't!"

He fisted a hand on her hair and pulled her head down, taking her lips in a near violent kiss as his other arm held her waist and forced her down harder on his dick.

Sara tried to move her face from his but he held her there, mouth on his, keeping her from screaming her pleasure. His demonstration of strength only increased her desire and he felt her pussy clenching around his dick, making him groan and let go of her mouth. She screamed his name as she climaxed and he filled her up with his cum, holding her on his lap, kissing her lips until their breathing returned to normal.

"We'll have to do this again." He whispered, trailing kisses down her neck.

"No doubt about that." She replied breathlessly. "But we still have three and a half hours..."

"Let's move this to the bedroom?"

"Hm-hm. Carry me." She ordered, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Of course. But there's a carrying fee." He teased, biting her bottom lip and standing up, her legs crossing behind his back.

"I'm not paying." She returned the tease.

They reached the corridor to the bedrooms and he pushed her against the wall. "Yes, you are." He growled before thrusting inside of her dripping pussy and making her moan.

Sara gasped and shouted at each deep thrust of his dick, his mouth once more torturing her sensitive nipples.

"You're mine, _Precious_." He used the nickname to annoy her.

"Shut up, Solo! Fuck!" she nearly screamed and he felt her climaxing again.

"Two orgasms in forty-five minutes." He gloated. "At this rate you'll have at least six more until we reach Endor."

She chuckled, "As if..." her eyes twinkling in an unspoken challenge.

"Oh, love, you're in so much trouble now." He replied, carrying her to the bedroom and showing her he was up to her challenge.

* * *

Ben woke up with the ship's alarm letting them know they were already orbiting Endor. He slowly got out from under Sara's sleeping form and walked to the cockpit to land the Mirrorbright on Endor. He activated the ships protective land-shields and joined Sara in bed again. They slept for a few hours before having lunch and leaving the ship to explore the planet.

The first place Ben took Sara to was the beach; where, from the shore, they could see huge pieces of the destroyed Second Death Star.

"Wow. That thing was very big." Sara said in awe.

"It looks worse than it truly is. Inside some of the rooms are still in perfect condition – despite the water."

"Have you been in there?"

"Yes. Out of curiosity once – but I don't think I want to go there again. There's still some evil in there, it's hard to explain."

Sara nodded and reminded him: "Where is the TIE fighter you promised?"

"Over there." He pointed somewhere to their right. "The docking bay of that star destroyer is only half underwater. I came here with my parents when I was twelve, I didn't know at the time that Vader was my grandfather but mom wanted me to see the wreck and learn about the history. We camped in the woods with the Ewoks and I heard many war stories that day." He shivered. "I had trouble sleeping for a month."

"How did you feel when you found out?" she softly asked, realizing she'd never asked him about that.

"I was as shocked as everyone."

"I felt sorry for you that day. When the news was everywhere on the HoloNet and all our classmates were talking about it; I noticed you were too quiet that day and Master Luke called you in his office as soon as word was out." She wrapped her arms around him, "I considered going to talk to you. No one seemed to care that you didn't know, suddenly they were all scared and angry. As if it was your fault."

"But you weren't scared?"

"No. I felt sorry for you. I know it's hard enough to be the child of Rebel heroes – add to that being related to the biggest of Sith Lords, I can't imagine how awful you must've felt."

He smiled down at her and put one hand under her chin, tilting her head up for him to kiss her.

"In moments like this I understand why my grandfather went nuts." Ben whispered after a while, holding Sara very close to him, as they looked at the wreckage in the angry sea. "If I had a vison you were going to die, I'd do everything in my power to save you – no matter the cost."

Sara shivered in his arms. "The future can always be changed, Ben."

"I know. But," he tightened his arms around her. "Just imagining it, it is painful enough... I can understand Anakin." He sprawled his hand in front of her belly. "Losing you would drive me crazy with grief. If a man told me he could teach me how to bring you back, I wouldn't hesitate or question his intentions. That's why I say I understand Anakin."

Sara nodded and held on to him, feeling his warmth and his love for her; knowing that if it was the opposite, she wouldn't question either.

* * *

In two large jumps they were on the destroyer and Ben opened a hatch to give them access to the half submerged hangar.

"This is so cool." Sara whispered as they walked through the hangar.

"Why are you whispering?"

"It just feels wrong to speak loud in here. Do you feel it? It's just like you said: there's still some evil in here."

Ben nodded. "Yes. I can feel it. Let's get two TIEs and leave."

Sara chose one and tested it before taking it out of the hangar. She turned on communications and stablished a safe channel to Ben's TIE. "This is unbelievably awesome!" she said to him.

"They are fast ships. Be careful!"

"Race you to the Mirrorbright." She said before speeding up and flying out of the hangar and away from Ben.

He had no other choice but to follow her.

* * *

They landed the TIEs by the Mirrorbright and decided to make a firepit and enjoy the night sitting cosily by the fire.

They cooked dinner and had cups of hot mocoa, wrapped on a blanket and in each others arms.

It was nearly midnight when Ben woke up, realizing they had fallen asleep outside, on the ground, by the firepit – which was already nothing but burnt wood.

Sara shivered in his arms and he slowly stood up, carrying her to the Mirrorbright. But he stopped by the ship's ramp: the deep silence of the woods making him suspicious. It wasn't supposed to be that quiet there – he remembered when he had stayed there with his parents years ago that the sounds of the forest had helped the nightmares kept him up for most of the night.

"What's wrong, Ben?" Whispered Sara against his neck, sensing his uneasiness.

"Something's wrong here. Do you hear it?"

Sara blinked and opened her eyes, lifting her head from his shoulder and focusing on the woods.

"It's too quiet." She said softly, suddenly wide awake.

Ben put her down and they walked back towards the remnants of the firepit and past the two TIE fighters they had landed nearby.

"Over here." Said Sara, softly, walking into the woods and following a humming sound. "Do you hear that?"

"Yes." Ben replied, walking close to her. "It sounds like a construction, but I don't see anything. No machinery, nor droids."

They walked a little further and then Sara gasped: "Underground!" she suddenly realized. "There's something being built underground!"

Ben looked at her with worry and they kept on walking closer to the sound.

Then voices were heard, the very familiar sound of a person's voice being altered by a stormtrooper mask: "I can't wait to get back to the Supremacy. It's too cold and humid here at night."

"True, man. This armor is useless against this cold and it makes me itch for all the humidity."

Ben and Sara froze in place, looking at each other and realizing they had stumbled on a First Order's base completely by chance.

Ben pointed in the direction they had come from and they slowly returned to the Mirrorbright. Running once they were far enough from the stormtroopers.

They entered her ship and went straight to the cockpit. Sara sat in the pilot's chair and clicked some buttons.

"We have to get out of here."

"Fly low until we reach the beach." Said Ben, sitting in the co-pilot's chair and helping her get the ship ready to take off. "Their scanners can't see us if we're flying close to the ground."

Sara nodded and started the ship as silently and slowly as physics allowed, and moved towards the beach as Ben had suggested.

"What do you think they're building here?" she asked.

"Some new Starkiller Base, probably."

"But why here?"

"There are kyber crystals in the Death Star – they must be salvaging them."

"Makes sense."

They reached the beach and Sara amped up the speed and reached outer space quickly – the Mirrorbright answering to each of her commands smoothly.

"I wish the Falcon flew like this." Commented Ben.

"That ship deserves retirement, Ben." She chuckled, calculating the jump to hyperspace and quickly making the jump.

She removed her hands from the panels and looked at her husband. "I was a little afraid just now." She quietly admitted.

"Me too."

"When I heard the troopers all I could think of was what if they get me and the babies." She had tears in her eyes.

Ben gulped and pulled her into his lap.

"But I don't want to hide," she continued. "I can't stay home while you're fighting."

"I know." He replied, pulling her closer to his chest and feeling his heart nearly stop as he remembered the pure terror that filled him when he saw the troopers.

After a few minutes, he felt Sara's breathing change and he knew she'd fallen asleep, then he carried her to the bed and lay down beside her, sleeping with his arms around her.

* * *

**Lothal**

Two days after they had returned from Endor, after lunch, Ben was training alone in the gym when Ezra found him.

"General Bridger." He stopped punching the bag and dried the sweat off of his face.

"Ben. Where's Sara?"

"Napping." He softly smiled. "She's been feeling very sleepy after lunch lately."

"Good. I need to have a word with you. Let's go to my office."

And Ben followed his father-in-law down the corridor.

Ezra closed the door and walked slowly to a seat, motioning that Ben sat on the other.

"We know the base you two found out in Endor is where the Force extracting machine is, but our biggest concern now is their mass destructive power. So in two days we'll be going after the Starkiller Base. But Sara can't go with us to face Palpatine." He said, concerned.

"I don't think we can make her stay behind." Said Ben. "Even if she says she won't go, I wouldn't trust her not to sneak onboard – and I'd rather not face her anger again."

"I have a plan to make her stay against her will."

"I won't help you." Ben interrupted his father-in-law. "She'll hate me."

"She'll die if she goes!"

Ben hesitated. "You can't be sure of that."

"I had a vision."

"Visions can change. There are many different future possibilities."

"No. This will happen. I'm certain of it." Insisted Ezra, visibly agitated. "Do you want to see what I've seen?"

"No." Ben quickly replied. "I don't want to see her dying."

"Neither do I. But I've seen it many times! She will die if we don't make her stay behind! Palpatine will fry her brain and keep her body alive until she gives birth! Then he'll extract all of her powers and kill her. He'll train both kids and… we won't stand a chance in the future. No one will."

Ben silently stared at the man, thinking it impossible to shake off the feeling that making her stay behind sounded like betraying her. "I'm certain she won't agree to be here while we go face him. Suggesting so will only enrage her."

"You won't have to do anything." Continued Ezra. "I will get a sleep inducer from the meddroid. Nothing that could possibly harm the babies, obviously. You'd just have to give her the water bottle that I'll have added the powder to and then take her to the medbay once she's sleeping."

Ben shook his head. "I can't do that. I'll be betraying her."

"She'll die if you don't!" Ezra exclaimed, looking truly desperate. "And the babies will be used as power tools by Palpatine!"

Ben sighed heavily, running thoughts on his mind, looking for an answer. "Visions can be changed." He repeated.

"Not this one, I'm afraid. I've been having this vision, always the same one, for months now." Ezra seemed certain. "Sara will be taken and killed if she goes with us. If you help me give her the sedative she may never even know it was premeditated – we could just say she was sleeping and there was an emergency."

"That still sounds wrong." Ben shook his head slowly

"She'll die!" Ezra nearly shouted.

"You're sure of it?" Ben asked, seeing the complete fear in his father-in-law's eyes.

"Yes. Completely."

"Fuck. Ok. So I'll help you."

* * *

**The next morning**

Sara woke up with her head a little heavy, as if she had drunk a little too much the night before – which she knew she hadn't for she was 12 weeks pregnant, so no alcohol for her. She opened her eyes, slowly recognizing where she was. _The infirmary! _She sat on the bed and a meddroid floated towards her.

"How are you feeling, Mrs. Solo?"

"A little confused. Why am I here? Is everything all right with the babies?"

"Yes. You're only here because your husband and your father gave you a low dose of a sleep inducer last night."

The droid's pure honesty on telling the men's wrongdoing had Sara blinking and trying to grasp what he was saying: "So they _drugged_ me?" she asked.

"Yes. In simple terms that's what they did. Nothing that would harm the babies though, which is why you're here. I've spent the night and this morning monitoring you and the little ones. All is fine."

She felt the bitter taste of betrayal fill up her mouth, enraging her soul. They had drugged her to make her stay behind, so they could fight while she slept. Nothing was fine – she didn't think anything would ever be fine again.

"They said to tell you they only did this to protect you, your father's words were: 'I wish she'd stop being so stubborn for a moment and try to understand our position.'"

"Well." She said, getting up from the bed slowly. "You can tell them to fuck off." And she left the infirmary.

The base was almost empty, most soldiers had gone to the fight and even the parking lot was mostly empty. Only the Mirrorbright and a couple of old A-wings were parked there. Sara went to the kitchen to grab a few provisions and then to her room, where she packed her things. She was leaving.

* * *

It was almost noon when the Falcon entered Lothal's atmosphere; and as soon as they had passed through the clouds Ben noticed the Mirrorbright wasn't there. Han saw his son's worried expression and looked at where he was staring at, his eyes going big on his face.

"Fuck. She woke up." Han murmured.

"Who woke up?" Asked Sabine, walking into the cockpit.

"Sara." Replied Ben, looking as devastated as if someone had killed his puppy.

"And? Why are you so worried about it?" she looked at each one of the men and started to suspect something was going on. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing! I was not in any way a part of this." said Han, quickly.

"She had to stay behind." Interrupted Ezra, stopping beside his wife. "It was too dangerous."

"What. Did. You. Do?" Sabine growled at her husband.

"We gave her a sleep inducer. The meddroid calculated the dose so it was completely safe!" exclaimed Ezra.

"What?!" Sabine shouted furiously. "How could you?"

"I had a vision! She was going to die and…"

"You should've talked to her!" Sabine shouted. "You know our daughter well enough to have already learned that if you had legitimate cause of concern, she'd understand and willingly stay behind!"

Leia walked into the small space, being called there by the shouts, and asked: "What have these nerf-herders done this time?"

"They drugged Sara!" shouted Sabine.

"What?" Leia shouted, looking at Han and Ben.

"I didn't do it! I only knew about it!" exclaimed Han.

"The meddroid gave me the right dose, it was safe!" said Ezra.

"Ben. Did you know about this?" asked Sabine, looking at his desperate face. "Please, tell me you weren't aware of this."

"I did; I was." He whispered, looking at the spot the Mirrorbright should be parked.

"Why did you do it, Ben?" asked Leia, worried.

"General Bridger said it was to save her, that he was sure she'd die…"

"You know she might never forgive you." Said Sabine in a heavy tone. "None of you. She might even think Leia and I were involved!"

"She's gone." Said Ben.

"Of course she is!" exclaimed Leia. "You three are nothing but a bunch of bantha-fodders, because even nerf-herders are more clever than you!"

And the two women left the cockpit, going outside and into the base to try and find a clue of where Sara could've gone.

* * *

**Notes:** Hello there! I haven't forgotten this story (don't worry!). Just life has been in the way and I've been struggling to find inspiration again after TROS. But hang in there!

And, yes, Ben's in trouble; Sara is pissed!


	12. The Reencounter

**Mandalore**

Sara clicked some buttons on the Mirrorbright's panel, slowing the ship down, and looked at her mother's home planet in front of her with a smile; she loved Lothal but Mandalore was like home for her too. However Sara didn't attempt to enter the atmosphere without asking for clearance first – doing so in such a place was to ask to be shot down. She took her personal holocomm and dialed her grandmother's private number.

"Sara!" exclaimed Ursa Wren as she answered. "How are you my dear?"

"I'm on the run, grandma. Can I have landing clearance? And a place to hide my ship?"

"Wait. You're _here_?" Ursa exclaimed happily.

"Yep."

"That's great! I'm sending you the codes for landing and coordinates right now."

"Thanks, grandma." Then she quickly added: "And don't tell anyone I'm here."

"Of course. You can always count on me, dear. This is the way."

"This is the way." Sara repeated, starting landing procedures.

* * *

Sara landed the Mirrorbright in a clearing in the woods, near her grandparents' house in the mountains, turned off the ship and walked down the ramp; seeing her grandma with a jet pack in her hands waiting for her.

"Sara! What an amazing surprise!" said Ursa hugging her granddaughter.

"It's really great to see you too, grandma."

"I'm very happy to see you but… what brings you here, dear?" she put her hands on Sara's shoulders.

"I just need to lay low for a while." Sara smiled at her grandma's concern, she always felt so welcomed by her; Ursa was a powerful stern woman, but she was also a good listener and a loyal person. "Did you tell anyone I am here?"

"No. Not even your grandpa. Just like you asked." She kissed her granddaughter's forehead. "What happened, dear?"

"Can we speak inside? I'm a little tired."

"Sure. Are you well enough to fly?" she handed her the jetpack.

"I'd have to be dead to refuse an opportunity to fly!" Sara exclaimed, quickly putting the jetpack on her back.

They flew to Ursa's house, and Sara felt like giggling like a little girl as the wind rushed by her, her long hair escaping from the ponytail and flying behind her; the amazing feeling of freedom filling her up with joy. She looked down at the beautiful landscape, and smiled at the sight of the big house in front of the mountains by a beautiful lake. They landed beside the house.

"There's no one here." Said Ursa. "When you mentioned that you needed secrecy I remembered this house was empty."

"I love this house. This is such an important place – here is where you fought the Empire's control; where mom dueled Gar Saxon and you killed him."

"Yes. And you can stay here for as long as you want." They walked into the house. "I've redecorated it a bit. Took out the formal throne room and added this living space. What do you think?" Ursa asked as they sat on a comfortable couch, Sara beside her.

"It's great. Looks cozier, more like a home than the military base it looked before."

"Now. Tell me: why are you really here, Sara?" she held her granddaughter's hands.

Sara's smile left her face immediately, her eyes filled with sadness. "Father and the others, they stopped me from joining them in battle by drugging me and leaving me behind."

"That's a dishonor!" Ursa was disgusted. "Your mother knows better than that, was she involved?"

"I don't know." Sara sighed. "But I'm sure dad was, and my husband."

Ursa looked at her in shock. "_Husband_?"

"Yeah." Sara realized she hadn't mentioned it to her grandma. "I married Ben Solo a little over a month ago."

"Wait, the General's son? From the Temple? The one you hated?" she was confused.

"Yes." Sara chuckled. "It's a long story, grandma. In short: I kidnapped Kylo Ren and it turned out Ben was Ren. Before burning the Temple, he left me a letter – a love letter, asking for my forgiveness. When I saw him I cursed him, at first, but then shit happened and we talked… and it's really a long story."

"Ok. Right now. What matters to me is to know if you're ok – are you?"

"Not really." Sara sighed deeply. "I can't believe they betrayed and disrespected me! My husband, my father and who knows who else!"

"I can see that. And I wholeheartedly agree with you. To stop you from fighting, to stop the granddaughter of the Clan Wren's leader from fighting, is a horrible betrayal, not to mention a dishonor!"

Sara smiled at her grandma's ferocious anger. "And there's another thing: I'm pregnant."

Ursa really froze for a whole minute, looking at Sara in absolute shock.

"What?"

"In my third month already. Twins. A boy and a girl."

"And the father is Vader's grandson." Said Ursa, a little concerned.

"Yeah. It sounds really bad when you say it like that, you know." Sara winced a little and smiled.

Ursa looked at Sara and sighed, pulling her into a tight hug. "You want me to hide you here?"

"Yes. Please."

"You can stay for as long as you want, my dear."

* * *

**Two weeks later**

Ursa and Sara were having lunch together when Ursa's holocomm rang. Sara hid under the table to avoid being seen by whoever was calling.

Ursa accepted the call.

"Mother." It was Sabine. "How are you?"

"Fine, dear. Your father and brother are in Sundari representing our Clan in a meeting at the Banking Center. And I'm at the lake house, alone."

"Great to hear you're fine, mom. Listen, has Sara contacted you in the past fortnight?"

"No." Ursa played dumb. "Why? Something happened?"

Sabine sighed. "The whole story is long, but Ezra had the brilliant idea to drug Sara to make her stay away from a battlefield."

"Well he's never been the brightest star in the galaxy, you know."

"Yes. And now I completely agree with you. So Sara left before we returned. At first I didn't worry, for I thought she'd at least call me. But she hasn't, and I'm worried."

"She probably thinks you were involved in the drugging."

"That's what I fear."

"Were you?"

"No, mother! I'd never do that to her!"

"Well, my granddaughter is a very capable young woman, I'm sure she's fine." Ursa was relieved to learn her daughter hadn't been part of the plan to drug Sara.

"Yeah, but… she's pregnant. With twins."

"How so?" Ursa pretended not to know.

"She married Ben Solo. Remember him? Leia's son?"

"Was he involved in this scam?"

"Yes. It wasn't his idea, but I'm afraid Ezra convinced him that it would be best for her."

"What an idiot."

"Yes."

"I'll let you know if Sara tries to contact me." Ursa lied.

"Thanks, mom." And Sabine hung up.

* * *

**Lothal**

Ben landed the Falcon by the X-wings and sat in silence in the dark cockpit, his hands on his face. A month had gone by and no news of Sara, he was losing his mind. He had just spent a week travelling around the galaxy, looking for clues of her whereabouts but he hadn't found anything.

He walked out of the ship, ignoring the hunger his growling stomach made sure to let him know he had, and went straight to the Command Room.

"Any news?" asked Leia as soon as she saw him.

"No. Nothing. It's as if she disappeared. No one has seen Sara or the Mirrorbright anywhere." Ben answered, his voice tired and hopeless.

"We know the First Order doesn't have her, Ben." Said Leia, trying to comfort him somehow. "They're looking for her too."

"I can't stop thinking she died somewhere and we will never know." He whispered. "All because we didn't respect her wish to fight with us!" he looked at Ezra who stood beside a long table in silence with Han.

"Now ain't that the truth!" Exclaimed Sabine, walking into the room. "If my daughter is dead somewhere is on you three!" she looked at the men in the room.

"What? Why me?" exclaimed Han, looking at his wife.

"You knew about it and didn't tell us." said Leia, looking at Sabine next, "Still nothing from your mother?"

"No. She said she'll let us know if Sara calls her." Sabine looked at Ben, and couldn't help but feel sorry for him; guilt was eating him up inside and he had even lost a few pounds. She hesitated, not sure how to tell him that he should take better care of himself.

"You should rest, my son." Said Leia, noticing the way her friend looked at her son. She touched Ben's face and looked at him with worry. "Eat something, take a shower and rest. You're starting to look sick."

Ben just shook his head and left the room not daring to enter the bedroom he had shared with Sara yet, he went straight to the training room instead, where he trained until hunger had him dizzy. Only then he went to the cafeteria and ate until he was full, going to his bedroom afterwards – their bedroom. He showered and lay down in the bed – their bed – hugging Sara's pillow and asking the Force to help him find her.

* * *

**Mandalore**

During dinner one night, a month after Sara had arrived in Mandalore, Ursa reminded Sara that she had to consider that her time of hiding had to end:

"The war is getting worse." She said.

And Sara silently looked at her food, putting her fork beside her plate, and took a sip of her juice, trying to ignore the fear that grew inside of her as she thought of Ben and the others fighting and dying because she weren't there.

"They're about to engage the First Order in Endor. Your mother called today asking for reinforcements."

"Will you send any?"

"Yes. We always help family." Ursa paused. "You should go too."

"I know." Whispered Sara. "But I'm still not sure I can forgive Ben and my father."

"According to Sabine, they are both pretty sorry for what they did. She said your husband's completely miserable, losing weight and training himself to exhaustion."

"It serves him right." Sara said, although her heart ached for him.

"Do you think someday you'll forgive him?"

"I honestly don't know. Mom told you it was all dad's idea, but Ben went along with it. So I don't know, grandma."

"Do you miss him?"

"Yes. A lot." She whispered, her eyes going to the large window, staring into the well lit garden outside. "But I'm still so angry."

"I understand, dear. But you probably will find a way to forgive them. Just make your husband suffer before letting him back – make sure he'll never attempt to do such a thing again."

"That's a very good idea, grandma." Sara smiled, knowing she had gotten her thirst for revenge from Ursa Wren no doubt.

* * *

**Endor**

They had identified and attacked the First Order Base deep inside the planet; there was only one door to enter the underground facility – which went down for about eight floors. The attack was going well for the Resistance, at least on the ground. In the skies though the TIE fighters were destroying all the x-wings with ease.

Ben ran amongst a group of stormtroopers, killing them with blaster shots and his lightsaber; but the closer he got to the entrance of the base, the bigger the number of troopers – to every ten he killed, twenty appeared in place.

"We're not going to be able to penetrate the base!" he shouted in his commlink. "I'm about twelve meters from the entrance, but terribly outnumbered."

"We have friends coming to our aid!" replied Leia. "Hang in there, son! Hide if you need to!"

But Ben continued trying to cut through the groups of stormtroopers, asking the Force for help to keep his physical tiredness at bay.

Suddenly a huge air dislocation had him and the troopers around him crouching down onto the forest floor, but Ben was able to open his eyes to see the ship that had caused it. There was a YT-Series crossing the sky very close to the trees, destroying a great number of tie-fighters on its way and Ben felt his heart nearly stop as he recognized that ship._ The Mirrorbright_. He smiled, the sight giving him hope and renewing his energies to continue the battle – he had to survive and return to the Eravana as soon as possible.

* * *

Ben parked the Falcon in the Eravana's hangar bay and ran out, he had to find Sara. The Mirrorbright was already parked there but it was locked. So he walked around it and, as he got ready to run to the Eravana's control room, his eyes found her: Sabine was hugging her daughter while another woman stood beside them with a smile.

"I'm alright, mom." He heard Sara say as she caressed the bump that had already began to show. "We're all fine."

"I took her to a physician last week. Both babies are healthy and strong."

Ben walked towards them as if he was hypnotized, his heart pounding as he approached Sara.

Sabine saw him first and frowned at him. Sara turned around to see what had her mother frowning and her eyes hardened.

"So that's the dumbass husband?" asked Ursa.

"Yep." Replied Sabine.

"At least he's very good-looking." Ursa added.

Sara couldn't take her eyes off of him. He looked thinner than she remembered but just as strong, his arms looked bigger and his hair was longer, as if he had skipped his monthly cut – he looked sexier if that was possible. She wanted to run to him, hit him and kiss him senseless. So that's what she did.

Ben stopped moving when Sara suddenly started to walk towards him, looking as mad as hell.

"Oh, fuck." He whispered, beginning to take a few steps back. But she raised her hand, immobilizing him in place. And when she stopped right in front of him, her blue eyes looked at his face for a moment before she landed a hard punch on his jaw.

The hangar fell silent as Sara walked past him and into the Mirrorbright, letting him go from the Force-hold.

She didn't close the ship's door so he knew he had to follow her. He hesitated, tasting blood in his mouth, and taking a deep breath before walking up the ramp into the Mirrorbright.

* * *

He closed the door and walked into the comfortable living space of the ship, where he saw Sara chopping something on the kitchen counter, her back to him.

"I'm sorry." He said, stopping ten feet from her.

"Aren't you always?" replied Sara, not turning to look at him.

"I was stupid. I shouldn't have listened to your father. I'm…"

"No! Don't fucking say you're sorry again!" she turned around and shouted at him. "I swear I'll finally fulfill my promise to freeze you in carbonite if you say you're sorry one more time." She pointed the knife she was using to chop vegetables at him.

"What can I do to make you forgive me, love? Tell me. Anything. And I'll do it."

Sara put the knife on the counter and crossed her arms over her chest, the action making her bump more obvious, and she stared at him with anger, thinking how to find a balance between her anger and her missing him.

"It wasn't my idea, loth-cat." Ben continued. "Your father told me of his vision and that it wasn't going to change I… I got desperate. When he told me his plan, it seemed simple and harmless…"

"_Harmless_? You betrayed my trust in every way possible. You know I'm a great fighter, and you know how much fighting means to me, yet you disrespected that. You know how big honesty is to me, and yet you lied to me. You let my father drug me! What if the drug had hurt our babies?" she shouted. "I honestly don't know how you can fix this! I feel like I can never trust you again."

"I was terrified of losing you." His voice was heavy with emotion. "What your father saw..." He took a few steps closer to her.

"I don't want to hear it! You didn't trust me! And a relationship without trust is nothing!"

Her words were like a dagger in his heart, and tears fell down his face. "I'm…"

"Don't say it!" she shouted.

And Ben stopped talking just staring at her, drinking from her image, relieved to see her alive and well – he'd take her anger any day, for not knowing she was dead or alive had robbed at least a decade off his life.

"After the next battle I'll return to Mandalore." She said, knowing it would hurt him – and she wanted him to suffer; even though she sensed his pain and it almost broke her resolve of making him pay for betraying her trust.

He wiped his face and nodded.

"If that's your wish."

"It is." She lied. "If Palpatine truly wants me, he'll have to face the whole of Mandalore to get to me."

They fell silent for a moment.

"I'll do my best to destroy him before he ever finds out where you are." Ben said. "Even if I have to die to…"

"Shut up." She interrupted him, his pain crushing her heart. "I don't want to become a widow, you idiot!" she sighed in frustration, deciding to stop that punishment, taking steps towards him.

"What do you want, love?" He asked, watching her get closer with hope in his heart. "Tell me and I'll make it happen."

She stopped half a foot from him and looked at his face, raising her hand to wipe a trail of blood from the corner of his mouth. He winced at the touch. "Does it hurt?" she asked and he nodded. "Good." She whispered. "Will you trust me?"

"Yes. I will. I do. I know you are powerful and fully capable and has mad fighting skills. I trust your abilities." He held his hand in his, looking into her eyes. "But what your father told me, love…"

"No. Listen to me: will you stop trying to protect me?"

She saw him flinch and hesitate – as if she had punched him again.

"Will you stop protecting me, Ben Solo?" she repeated in an angrier tone.

"I'll try." He honestly replied. "And I'll always let you punch me whenever I try to save you from danger. Is that enough?"

Sara looked at him with anger but a hint of a smile on her lips.

"No, it's not enough. But I can compromise." she touched both hands to his chest. "Will you hide things from me again?"

"No. Never." He vigorously shook his head, some strands of his long black hair sticking to his face.

"And will you run into danger and leave me behind, as if I'm a helpless stupid Princess?"

"No, loth-cat. Never."

She touched his face, looking into his eyes, and pulled him down to a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, as if she could disappear again if he didn't hold her.

"I missed you, stupid husband." She whispered, "I fucking missed you so much." She pulled his shirt off of him, touching the hard muscles that had her instantly trembling in need.

Ben kissed her lips again, his tongue finding hers, wrestling it into full compliance, hearing Sara whimper in his mouth. He hoisted her up, making her wrap her legs around his waist, and carried her to the bedroom. Where he lay her down on the bed with care, just to have his hair yanked immediately.

"Don't you dare treat me like I'll break, Ben Solo!"

He smiled and undressed her, his eyes falling on her bump when he pulled her shirt off of her, tears filling up his eyes. He kissed her round belly and she caressed his hair as he began crying with his head on her stomach.

"I feared I'd never see you again." He whispered. "That I had fucked up so bad this time that you'd never want to look at my face again."

"I did think I wouldn't be able to forgive you." She admitted. "But as the days went by, I began to miss you so much. And I dreamed of our future, of the house in Lothal, our kids running by the pond… and I knew we'd have to find a way to fix this together."

He kissed a path from her belly up to her lips, being careful not to put his weight on her belly.

"I love you, loth-cat."

"And I love you, silly husband. Now," she ran her hands through his hair and demanded: "Fuck me."

He didn't need to be told twice, kissing down her neck he pinched her nipples and quickly took her pants and panties off of her. Then he stood up and undressed in front of her. The sight of his strong arms flexing to remove his pants was drool-worthy. He looked at her and smirked, sensing her thoughts.

"Like what you see?" he asked.

"Fuck, yeah." She bit her lip, one hand going down between her legs.

"No no no." He said, kneeling on the bed- kissing her inner thighs, smelling her skin, "This pussy is mine to pleasure." He whispered, licking her hip bone, kissing the inner side of her thighs, loving how she gasped and arched every time he got close to her center but never actually touched her there. "Needing something, love?" He trailed kisses from her thighs up to her breasts, licking and biting her pebbled nipples, making her moan softly and her hands fist in his hair.

"Yes. I need more." She gasped, wrapping her legs around his waist. "These pregnancy hormones make me so horny… I've been using my fingers to unsatisfying ends for too long."

He took her mouth in a near-brutal kiss, tongues wrestling in a battle where there were no losers. He bit her bottom lip a little hard, watching her reaction as he pinched her nipples again, she whimpered and rubbed her legs on his sides.

"You're so sexy, love." He whispered against her neck, trailing kisses down her body again, reaching her pussy, salivating at the sight of her juices making her lips glisten; he used his thumbs to open her up and delved his tongue between the lips. Sara arched and moaned loudly at the feeling of his tongue lapping her up as if she was a delicious ice-cream.

He reveled at every one of her moans and gasps, proud to be giving her so much pleasure that she trashed on the bed, eyes shut tight, lips parted, opening her legs even further, offering more, needing him to take more of her.

The need to thrust into her, lodge his cock deep inside her hot pussy, was taking control of him, but he wanted to pleasure her a little longer – he loved to tease her, make her lose her strong-willed mind to his touches. He put himself between her legs and braced his weight on his elbows onto the mattress on both sides of her head, his dick nudging her pussy, but never penetrating, coating his cock on her cream.

Sara was a trembling mass of desire, needing him to fuck her deep, she yanked at his hair, biting his bottom lip. "Get that dick inside of me, Ben, now."

"No. I'm enjoying this look on you too much." He penetrated just the head of his dick for a few seconds, feeling her channel clenching, trying to pull him in. But he took it out and continued his teasing.

"Keep on doing that and I'll throw you on the other side of this room," she panted. "Then I'll make myself cum while you watch – without being able to touch me – and we'll both be miserably unsatisfied."

And he penetrated her fully, getting balls deep into her tight channel, loving how she wrapped her legs around him and arched, exposing her neck, putting her breasts very close to his mouth – something he took full advantage of, suckling one nipple into his mouth and biting on it.

"Oh, Ben, harder." She moaned. "And don't you fucking say a thing about not wanting to hurt me!" She added, angrily.

He didn't utter a word; taking her lips violently, he pounded into her, making her moan louder and rake her hands on his back, her legs pulling him even deeper. And she shouted his name as her whole body trembled in pleasure. He slowed his thrusts, stimulating her pussy even further, keeping her cumming longer. She screamed as her channel got tighter, wrapping around his hard dick, too deliciously for him to stop his own climax; he pounded into her and climaxed, feeling her channel massaging his cock, as if sucking every drop of cum from him.

He lay beside her, pulling her to his chest, entwining their hands.

Sara rubbed her cheek on his sweaty chest. "I missed you, Ben."

"When we got back from the battle and I saw the Mirrorbright wasn't in the parking lot, my whole life lost its color." He murmured. "I knew there was a chance that I'd never see you again. And as the days went by and we had no clue where you could be..." He paused and pulled her closer, kissing her lips lovingly. "It was horrible, love."

"I hated being away from you too…" she whispered against his lips; and they shared another sweet kiss.

"I have a surprise for you when we get back to Lothal." He whispered, as she laid her head on his chest again.

"Really?" She mumbled, sleepy. "What is it?"

"Our house. I've hired a contractor to build it… just like the one I saw in the vision. It will be ready for us to move in before the kids are born."

Sara raised her head to look into his eyes, her blue ones filled with tears, a soft smile on her lips. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, loth-cat." He kissed her softly.

"I love you, Ben."

He sighed happily and pulled her onto his chest again, and they fell asleep.

* * *

**Ten hours later**

They were awakened by the ringing of Sara's commlink.

"Sara here." She answered, still half-asleep.

"Is my son alive?" asked Leia.

"Yes." Sara chuckled at the question, looking at him, also half-asleep, beside her. "Bruised but breathing."

"Good. Can you two be in the command room in thirty minutes?"

"We'll be there."

* * *

Leia smiled as she watched her son walk into the command room with Sara, he had a large bruise on the left side of his mouth but a smile on his lips and a spark in his eyes.

"I'm so relieved." She whispered to Sabine. "I truly thought he'd be frozen in carbonite by now."

"Sara loves him too much to really do that." Said Sabine, chuckling.

"And how are things with Ezra?"

"That one's still a candidate for carbonite freezing though." She glanced at him. "I can't believe what he did behind all of our backs."

"Has he told you about the vision?"

"Yes. And it was awful. If I had dreamed that repeatedly, I'd have lost it too. But it doesn't justify his dishonoring and disrespecting Sara."

Leia looked at the young couple again, Ben had one hand wrapped around Sara, protectively. She looked up at him, annoyed at his excessive protectiveness, but he just smiled at her and didn't move his hand.

* * *

Ursa approached them to take a closer look at the man that had married her granddaughter.

"Mr. Solo." She greeted him. "I think we haven't been introduced. I'm Sara's grandmother, Ursa Wren." She reached out her hand to his.

He gulped and shook her hand. "It's a pleasure, Mrs. Wren."

"I wish I could say the same." She replied, walking into his personal space menacingly. "Hurt her again and you will see first-hand why Mandalorians are called crazy."

"Yes, ma'am. I mean, no, ma'am, I won't." he stuttered a little.

Sara held his arm in support and smiled at her grandma.

"I see you are happy again, Sara." Said Ursa, touching her face. "Will you return to Mandalore with me?"

Sara felt Ben tense up beside her, he waited for her answer holding his breath.

"No, grandma. I'll return to Lothal. I'll stay beside my husband."

Ursa nodded and smiled.

"Attention, everyone." said Leia, loudly, "This will be a brief meeting for we still have much to do. We were somewhat victorious in our battle against the First Order thanks to our skills and training and the help of our Mandalorian friends. They reached us in a very difficult moment and helped us give our land-team enough time to get a full reconnaissance of the hidden base Palpatine has built in Endor. We now know where to attack to destroy it. So our next attack will be bigger, directly on the weaker spots of our main target. So I ask you to get as much rest and training as you can in the next couple of days, for hopefully our next attack will be the last."


End file.
